Understanding Pennsylvania’s Gradual Abolition Act of 1780

Posted by on Aug 13, 2026 in | Comments Off on Understanding Pennsylvania’s Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 In March 1802, an enslaved man named Frank slipped away from his enslaver in Lancaster County. Prior to his escape, Frank had served as both a chauffeur and a laborer, moving between roads and fields that he would now use as a route to freedom. He fled on a Sunday night wearing a beaver hat and a pair of light-colored pants. Most importantly, he carried a freedom certificate that once belonged...
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1st Pennsylvania Regiment Flag and Banners of Liberty

Posted by on Sep 8, 2025 in | Comments Off on 1st Pennsylvania Regiment Flag and Banners of Liberty One of the most significant objects in the collection of The State Museum of Pennsylvania is currently being featured in Banners of Liberty, a special exhibition of rare and original Revolutionary War–era flags at the Museum of the American Revolution (MOAR) in Philadelphia. The 40-by-54-inch silk flag belonged to the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line between 1776 and 1783. Over...
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Rock Ford Plantation

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Rock Ford Plantation Nestled in the rolling terrain of Lancaster’s Central Park, near the banks of the Conestoga River, sits historic Rock Ford Plantation, the stately Georgian-style manor of Revolutionary War general Edward Hand (1744-1802). Built in 1793 the nearly 200-acre farm offered respite from the bustle of nearby Lancaster for the Hand family. The property also included two barns, a tenant house, a...
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Woo Hong Neok: A Chinese American Soldier in the Civil War

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Woo Hong Neok: A Chinese American Soldier in the Civil War In the popular imagination, the American Civil War is an extraordinary drama portraying the denouement of the exceptionally serious struggle to preserve the Union and end the institution of slavery. In the unfolding drama the actors on the battlefield, as well as on the home fronts in both the North and the South alike, are nearly always white or black Americans with a smattering of Native...
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