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Thaddeus Stevens Portrait awaits Statehouse

January 4, 2012
The etch­ing of Stevens was struck from an orig­i­nal plate that is held by a his­tor­i­cal preser­va­tion orga­ni­za­tion in Penn­syl­va­nia. Stevens, who is cred­it­ed with the Civ­il Rights amend­ment to the Con­sti­tu­tion was born in Danville and edu­cat­ed in Peacham before set­ting up his law prac­tice in Get­tys­burg. Though he has been vil­i­fied by some for his rad­i­cal Repub­li­can stance dur­ing recon­struc­tion, he was an extra­or­di­nary visionary.

By Sharon Lakey, Director

On Octo­ber 30, 2011, the Thad­deus Stevens por­trait was unveiled at a cer­e­mo­ny held in the Danville Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church.

There were hitch­es in the day’s plan—Ross Het­rick, the main speak­er, was on the road all night in a freak snow­storm that buried Penn­syl­va­nia, New York, and Mass­a­chu­setts. David Schutz, who was to accept the por­trait as cura­tor of the Ver­mont State­house, had an emer­gency fam­i­ly issue and couldn’t attend.

There were also won­der­ful things that hap­pened that day: the audi­ence was treat­ed to sun­shine pour­ing into the church;  the pipe organ and organ­ist, Jen Larrabee, filled the sanc­tu­ary with sound; Paul Chouinard gra­cious­ly emceed the pro­ceed­ings; Toby Balivet, Town Par­lia­men­tar­i­an, gave one of his thought­ful invo­ca­tions; the Pump­kin Hill Singers shared two peri­od songs, beau­ti­ful­ly har­mon­ic; David Hare, dressed in Hem­lock uni­form and his helper, a Danville Cub Scout, unveiled the por­trait; Ross, in spite of the onset of a cold, deliv­ered a rous­ing speech about Thad­deus; and then , after group singing, all retired to the din­ing area to a repast cour­tesy of vol­un­teer bak­ers and the Pas­sump­sic Sav­ing Bank.

Stevens has been vil­i­fied by some his­to­ri­ans for his Rad­i­cal Repub­li­can stance dur­ing the Recon­struc­tion peri­od. But he was a man of strong ideals and his stance was for the equal­i­ty of all human­i­ty. Click here for a link to Pres­i­dent Paul Chouinard’s arti­cle on him enti­tled, Old Com­mon­er.

Recent­ly, a vis­i­tor to the His­tor­i­cal House stood before the por­trait, hold­ing a paper up so that only his eyes were show­ing.  “He looks angry,” she said. I must admit,  if not angry, he def­i­nite­ly looks res­olute! The por­trait will be at the House until it is accept­ed at a recep­tion at the State­house dur­ing the upcom­ing ses­sion. Drop by and have a look at Vermont’s native son, who has had an endur­ing affect on America.

For a pho­to album of the event, cour­tesy of Jim Ash­ley, click here.

For a video of the event, record­ed by Ross Het­rick, Pres­i­dent of the Thad­deus Stevens Soci­ety, click here.

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