Young stars and nonstellar emission in the aligned radio galaxy 3C 256

We present ground-based images of the z=1.824 radio galaxy 3C 256 in the st andard BVRIJHK filters and an interference filter centered at 8800 Angstrom , a Hubble Space Telescope image in a filter dominated by Ly alpha emission (F336W), and spectra covering rest-frame wavelengths from Lya to [O III] l ambda 5007. Together with published polarimetry observations, we use these to decompose the overall spectral energy distribution into nebular continuu m emission, scattered quasar light, and stellar emission. The nebular conti nuum and scattered light together comprise half (one-third) of the V-band ( K-band) light within a 4 " aperture and are responsible for the strong alig nment between the optical/near-infrared light and the radio emission. The s tellar emission is dominated by a population estimated to be 100-200 Myr ol d (assuming a Salpeter IMF) and formed in a short burst with a peak star fo rmation rate of 1-4 x 10(3) M. yr(-1). The total stellar mass is estimated to be no mote than 2 x 10(11) M., which is far less than other luminous rad io galaxies at similar redshifts, and suggests that 3C 256 will undergo fur ther star formation or mergers.