Thaddeus
Stevens, a Lancaster County native, was a United States Congressman from
1849 until his death in 1868. Stevens was probably the most powerful figure
in the federal government during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The
Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, upon which nearly all civil rights
legislation is based, is his crowning achievement.
Stevens understood that free public education was necessary for all citizens if they were to retain the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution. Into the Nineteenth Century, education was accessible only to those who could pay for it. Stevens was fighting for free public education as early as 1826. He is considered the originator of free public education in Pennsylvania.
July 30, 1867, Thaddeus Stevens signed his
will and testament saying that a "house of refuge" should be established
and the rest is history.
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