Here’s a story every American should know!

Just a quick note: My new biography of Lydia Hamilton Smith, housekeeper, confidante (and, I believe much more) of Lancaster, PA congressman Thaddeus Stevens will be officially released by Penn State Press and LancasterHistory on November 21. The title is: An Uncommon Woman: The Life of Lydia Hamilton Smith. It’s available from Amazon Books and other national booksellers. Here’s the blurb from Amazon: Lydia Hamilton Smith (1813–1884) was a prominent African American businesswoman in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the longtime housekeeper, life companion, and collaborator of the state’s abolitionist congressman Thaddeus Stevens. In his biography of this remarkable woman, Mark Kelley reveals how Smith served the cause of abolition, managed Stevens’s household, acquired property, and crossed racialized social boundaries. https://www.amazon.com/Uncomm…/dp/0271096756/ref=sr_1_6…

It’s an inspiring story, one I think every American should know. MK