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Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America

  • July 19, 2026 5:00 PM

  • Historic Rock Ford

    881 Rockford Road
    Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Ticket Price $5.72-$11.54 Buy Tickets
Description

Historic Rock Ford's America250 Lecture Series welcomes author Karin Wulf as she presents “Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection." This lecture is based upon her book of the same name and explores how genealogy was a powerful force in 18th-century America, shaping society, law, and identity for all people, not just elites. The book argues that family records, created in diverse forms from documents to artifacts, were crucial for individuals and institutions to claim status, define freedom (especially in relation to slavery), and navigate legal and social structures, connecting personal emotion with political power. Wulf shows how genealogy was a universal practice, used by everyone from enslaved people seeking freedom to founding fathers seeking status, making it central to understanding the American past. 

This presentation will be held in the Langmuir Education Room located on the first floor of the Rock Ford Barn. Please note that admission is for the lecture only and does not include the Snyder Gallery. 

About the presenter: Karin Wulf is the Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library and Professor of History at Brown University.  A historian of early America focused on gender, family, and politics, she writes widely for both public and academic audiences about history, the worlds of research and scholarship, and libraries and archives. Her new book is “Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America.” She serves on a variety of non-profit boards, is involved in planning for the semiquincentennial in July 2026, and is a Vice-President of the American Historical Association.

Date & Time

Sun, Jul 19, 2026 5:00 PM

Venue Details

Historic Rock Ford

881 Rockford Road
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602 Historic Rock Ford
Rock Ford Foundation

Historic Rock Ford is comprised of the circa 1794 General Edward Hand Mansion and the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts. Our historic site is situated on 33 acres of gardens, woods and grounds surrounded by Lancaster County Central Park located in the southeast corner of Lancaster City.  This remarkable estate offers visitors the opportunity to encounter the outstanding original late-Georgian style architecture of the Hand Mansion, to experience its rooms furnished in exquisite period style while, in the Snyder Gallery, to explore a nationally recognized collection of Lancaster County decorative arts dating from circa 1760 to 1820 including furniture, portraiture, long rifles, tall case clocks, silver, and much more. 


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