Don’t throw away your shot to immerse the kids in Alexander Hamilton’s world at the New-York Historical Society this summer.
The Upper West Side Museum announced its “Summer of Hamilton” exhibit and programming earlier this week, in celebration of the Founding Father’s legacy–and his surging popularity thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit Broadway musical, and the Ron Chernow biography that inspired it. (Fun fact: NYHS actually hosted a Hamilton exhibit back in 2004).
Anchored by the “Summer of Hamilton” exhibition, which will feature artifacts and documents related to Alexander Hamilton’s life (such as the federal government plan he shared at the Constitutional Convention and the pamphlet in which he confessed his affair with Maria Reynolds), the museum is providing a variety of events and activities throughout the summer for kids and families.
The exhibit’s opening day on July 4 will be jam-packed with fun for Hamilton-heads of all ages. Kids can meet a historian dressed as Hamilton, enjoy revolutionary songs and stories from The Hudson River Ramblers, and test their knowledge in a family Hamilton trivia contest created by The Big Family Quiz Thing.
If you’re out of town for the 4th, the festivities will continue all summer long, with historical reenactors portraying Hamilton, Revolutionary War soldiers, and other figures from the colonial era every weekend in July and August. There will also be an interactive station inside the DiMenna Children’s History Museum that addresses how Hamilton’s upbringing in the Caribbean helped influence his opposition to slavery.
Middle schoolers can spend a week as Hamilton scholars during “Camp History: Alexander Hamilton’s World.”
The Museum’s Reading into History Family Book Club is also in tune with the Hamilton theme, reading Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider by Jean Fritz. The group will meet August 28 to discuss the book and check out artifacts related to Hamilton and his life.
During Hamilton Fridays, the museum will offer pay-as-you-wish admission and fun ways for visitors to learn about Hamilton and the influences behind the Broadway show.
To learn more about “the Summer of Hamilton,” visit nyhistory.com!
