Join LancasterHistory.org on Thursday, November 9th as we welcome historian and author Brent M. Rogers, Ph.D. for a talk on A Question of Sovereignties: James Buchanan, Utah Territory, and the Onset of a Federal West. Rogers will examine the difficult challenges faced by President Buchanan’s administration in dealing with Territorial Governor Brigham Young as well as with the settlers of the Utah Territory.

Brent Rogers, Ph.D., Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsBrent M. Rogers, Ph.D. is the associate managing historian for The Joseph Smith Papers. He earned a BA with honors in history from San Diego State University, an MA in public history from California State University, Sacramento, and a Ph.D. with emphasis in nineteenth-century United States history from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Rogers is the author of Unpopular Sovereignty: Mormons and the Federal Management of Early Utah Territory (University of Nebraska Press in 2017) and several articles including “A ‘distinction between Mormons and Americans’: Mormon Indian Missionaries, Federal Indian Policy, and the Utah War,” Utah Historical Quarterly (Fall 2014), which won the Western History Association’s 2015 Arrington-Prucha Prize for Best Article on the History of Religion in the West. Rogers has also co-edited several volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers including Journals Volume 3: May 1843- June 1844 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015).

Event Information: This event takes place in Ryder Hall at LancasterHistory.org. A speaker’s reception begins at 4pm, followed by the lecture at 4:30pm. The event is free and open to the public.

LancasterHistory.org kicks off the 2017 Presidential Lecture series on Friday, September 29, 2017 with Dr. Michael F. Holt for Sink Hole: How Kansas Crises Doomed the Presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. Holt’s presentation will explore how the two critical changes in the United State’s rule of law, the 1854 Kansas Nebraska Act and the 1857 Dred Scott Decision, created political tripping stones that destroyed the Presidencies of the 14th and 15th Presidents of the United States.

Michael F. Holt, Ph.D. is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of Virginia. Dr. Holt received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University and his doctorate at Johns Hopkins. He is the author of six books, including the award-winning The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party and By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876. One the United State’s most prolific and influential scholars on antebellum politics, Dr. Holt served as a keynote speaker at the 2008 President James Buchanan National Symposium at LancasterHistory.org.

Event Information: This event takes place in Ryder Hall at LancasterHistory.org. A social gathering begins at 4pm, followed by the lecture at 4:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. Ample parking available on-site.

Join us as we transport you back to September 1866 at the Wheatland Farm of James Buchanan. Desperate for good domestic help, Mr. Buchanan has hired Thomas & Rosanna Gordon, a couple who had resigned from their posts only a few months earlier. Rosanna is the best cook Wheatland has ever had; however, Thomas is, as Mr. Buchanan describes, “anything but agreeable!” When you visit, you will have a unique opportunity to eavesdrop on the arguments and drama that took place at Wheatland in 1866.

The Living History at Wheatland program Anything but Agreeable takes place on Saturday, September 3, 2016 with tours on the hour starting at 12pm and the last starting at 3pm. A standard tour of Wheatland is also offered at 10am & 11am. We strongly advise making reservations in advance for your tour since tours do fill up and walk-in space is not guaranteed. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your tour so you may use the facilities and check in.

Visit LancasterHistory.org/events or call 717-392-4633 to purchase your tickets.

James (left) & Edward Buchanan (right) c. 1860s

Join us as we transport you back to the summer of 1865 at the Wheatland Farm as Mr. Buchanan welcomes his younger brother, the Reverend Edward Buchanan, and his family for a summer visit. As you tour the home, you will have a chance to eavesdrop on the Buchanan brothers as they recall their childhood in Franklin County as well as the recent tumultuous days of American Civil War.

The Living History at Wheatland program Recalling Past Ages takes place on Saturday, August 6, 2016 with tours on the hour starting at 12 noon and the last starting at 3pm. A standard tour of Wheatland is also offered at 10am & 11am. We strongly advise making reservations in advance for your tour since tours do fill up and walk-in space is not guaranteed. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your tour so you may use the facilities and check in.

Visit LancasterHistory.org/events or call 717-392-4633 to purchase your tickets.

Step back to the summer of 1867 and celebrate the 4th of July with James Buchanan, his family and friends. Raise a glass of lemonade with Mr. Buchanan and toast the Union’s 91st birthday as his niece, Miss Annie Buchanan, seeks someone to challenge her in her favorite sport of croquet.

The Living History at Wheatland program “Independence & Wickets at Wheatland” takes place on Saturday, July 2, 2016 with tours on the hour starting at 12 noon and the last starting at 3pm. A standard tour of Wheatland is also offered at 10 am & 11am. Visit LancasterHistory.org/events or call 717-392-4633 to purchase your tickets.

Join us we transport you back to May 1869!

Members of Harriet Lane Johnston’s family and friends join her at Wheatland where they are feeling nostalgic about moments from the past and sharing stories. They also discuss their experiences with their Uncle James Buchanan and express their deep concerns about his legacy, especially on why their plans and efforts to preserve his legacy continually face resistance.

The Living History at Wheatland program Harriet Lane Johnston takes place on Saturday, May 7, 2016 with tours on the hour starting at noon and the last starting at 3 p.m. Standard tours of Wheatland are also offered at 10am and 11am ONLY.

Visit LancasterHistory.org/events or call 717-392-4633 to purchase your tickets.

The 225th anniversary of President James Buchanan’s birth will be commemorated on April 23, 2016 and will feature the annual presentation of the White House wreath for the President’s grave site at Woodward Hill Cemetery starting at 10 a.m. followed by a Birthday Celebration at Wheatland starting at noon and lasting till 2 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

The day’s events begin at 10 a.m. at Woodward Hill Cemetery for the Presidential Wreath-Laying Ceremony. The Ceremony includes a historical view about James Buchanan by Brigadier General Timothy J. Hilty. Another special guest is the 15th President’s historic guards, the Lancaster Fencibles; they will present a black powder-gun salute at the Cemetery. The Ceremony concludes with the Presidential Wreath being placed at James Buchanan’s tomb by Brigadier General Timothy J. Hilty with assistance from two Buchanan Elementary School students.

Following the Ceremony the public is invited by the students and PTO of James Buchanan Elementary School to President James Buchanan’s Wheatland for a 225th Birthday Celebration. Free tours of the President’s beloved home, Wheatland, are available from noon until 2 p.m. with a tour beginning every 15 minutes and the last free tour beginning at 1:45. These tours will be led by the Buchanan Elementary School students as they interpret the history of Wheatland, James Buchanan, his family and his life. Enjoy a slice of James Buchanan’s birthday cake with some punch provided through the generosity of the James Buchanan Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO.)