About
The T. Morris Chester Welcome Center and Research Collection is a partnership of The Commonwealth Monument Project an initiative of the IIPT Harrisburg Peace Promenade, a project of TFEC, fiscal sponsor, the International Institute for Peace through Tourism, The Library, and the Pennsylvania Past Players that serves as an inspirational connector for the community and keystone to heritage and discourse that advances unity, peace, equity and justice. T. Morris Chester Welcome Center is sponsored by PA Media Group.
The Center pays tribute to one of Harrisburg’s heroes and our nation’s first Black war correspondent and serves as the central access point to The Library where it creates a welcoming, hospitable environment for library visitors. Additionally, it is a portal to information on T. Morris Chester, Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward, and other local histories for families, library members, history enthusiasts, scholars, and countless others interested in the stories and people who shaped Harrisburg and, in turn, the nation.
Research Collection
Featured Memory Box
T. Morris Chester
Reporter and Civil Rights pioneer, Thomas
Morris Chester spent his life on the
frontlines of the fight for racial equality.
Rick Kearns, Fellow for the Commonwealth
Monument Project is coordinating and facilitating
the creation of this memory box. Read more…
Support Provided by
Pennsylvania Past Players
The Pennsylvania Past Players, who embody the real-life stories of incredible thought leaders who shaped their times and whose influence we still feel today, call the T. Morris Chester Welcome Center and The Library home.
Meet Sharon Jackson
Sharon Jackson is the newest member of the Pennsylvania Past Players living historians.
E’Vonne Coleman RorieMay’s Thought Leader/>
Programs & Events
The T. Morris Chester Welcome Center is the home of training sessions for the Pennsylvania Past Players, the Live & Learn series, now in its 15th year, History Detectives Roundtable Sessions and so much more.
Live & Learn: Animating Democracy
Learn from presenters who are advancing cultural and heritage tourism experiences in Central Pennsylvania while animating democracy through public arts and placemaking programs.
Support Provided by
Programs & Events – view the 2022/23 season >>