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New York Public Library Digital Collection (Public domain)
Contact: John Harlan Warren, 917-829-0425 NEW YORK – Learn about New York City’s most famous founding father and recent Broadway sensation Alexander Hamilton at two National Park Service sites in Manhattan. On Saturday, January 9 at 12 noon, Pooja Nair will give a presentation at Hamilton Grange National Memorial on the Manhattan Well Murder Trial in 1800. This is regarded as the first fully recorded murder trial in the United States. Hamilton teamed up with Aaron Burr, the man who later killed him in a duel, for the defense of Levi Weeks. Hamilton Grange, located at 414 West 141st Street in Harlem, was the only home ever owned by Hamilton. A presentation about the history of the home, which Hamilton called his “sweet project.” Guided tours and open house tours are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/hagr. On Monday, January 11, Federal Hall National Memorial will host Boston University lecturer Dr. Thomas Oller in the talk “From Colleagues to Rivals: Hamilton and Jefferson in Washington’s Cabinet and Beyond.” The lecture is sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society and will be held at 11 A.M. in the rotunda area of Federal Hall; admission is free. Federal Hall National Memorial, located at 26 Wall Street, is the location of the seat of the new federal government for 17 months in 1789-1790. Afterward, a birthday cake will be cut and served. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/feha. The Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society will hold other events honoring the founding father’s birthday, including a wreath-laying ceremony at Hamilton’s gravesite in nearby Trinity Church. For more, see www.smore.com/zctdj. Although historians still debate the year of his birth (1757 or 1755), the birthdate of Alexander Hamilton is recognized as January 11. Born on the island of Nevis in the West Indies to an unwed mother and orphaned before he was a teenager, young Hamilton impressed locals so much that he was sent to the colony of New York to attend King’s College (later Columbia University). The American Revolution interrupted his studies, where he became General George Washington’s aide-de-camp. When Washington became president, he appointed Hamilton as the nation’s first Treasury Secretary. His financial wizardry helped turn the United States from a credit risk into a sound fiscal player on the world stage.
Stretching from The Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan into three other boroughs, and beyond the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to New Jersey, the National Parks of New York Harbor includes 10 national parks with 22 natural, historic and recreational sites. These national parks preserve special places that tell the story of America and its leading city. Find out more at https://www.nps.gov/npnh/index.htm. —NPS— |
Last updated: January 7, 2016