New York is cold

Our plan today was to visit the Hamilton Grange, continue to an event put on by the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society (AHA Society) at Trinity Church then visit the Fraunces Tavern Museum nearby. As we got to the Hamilton Grange, we decided plans are boring and no fun, so threw out our itinerary and headed toward lower Manhattan. Just kidding the Grange was closed, so we literally followed the wind to lower Manhattan.

The first thing we saw out of the subway station was the Freedom Tower, gleaming in the sunlight making all the other skyscrapers look minuscule in comparison. As we neared the memorial grounds the crowds filled with the work force disappeared and yet it still felt “crowded” as we stood in front of the memorial reflecting pools that have the power to consume and transport you back in time to that infamous day. After we took a moment to let the magnitude of what happened here sink in, we departed with the wind as our tour guide.

The Freedom Tower

Before we could make it ten feet, we were stopped by a security guard who wanted to judge who was taller between Kaimara and him. As the security guard hit on Kaimara I was silently giving him a round of applause for his slick moves, until he noticed my Broncos hat and decided to talk smack. That was the end of our friendship, so we kindly bid ado and continued to follow the wind.

We soon found ourselves at the National Museum of the American Indian.The building the museum (a part of the Smithsonian Institute) is located in is the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House that housed the duty collections operations for New York port from 1907 to the mid-1970’s. The museum was filled with artifacts related to various indigenous people throughout the world. Before we knew it, it was time to head to Trinity Church to celebrate the birthday of the man, the myth, the legend Alexander Hamilton.

Alexander’s Gravesite Memorial Service

Every year The Alexander Hamilton Society (AHA Society) puts on a birthday celebration that involves activities that help keep the legacy of Alexander Hamilton alive. This year it started with a remembrance vigil at Hamilton’s gravesite in Trinity church’s cemetery. We did not know  what to expect but as we came upon the cemetery we were pleasantly surprised to find 30-40 people gathered in the cemetery (to which we were of the youngest  people in attendance). The graveside memorial featured an introduction by the Society’s founder Rand Scholet, a presentation by the United States Coast Guard (which Hamilton founded), a brief word from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation of St. Kitts & Nevis (where Hamilton was born), and finally a prayer from two church ministers. This remembrance ceremony was immediately followed by a short talk by historian Dr. Stephen Knott, a professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College.

Lin Miranda Manuel summed it up perfectly with the lyric, “who lives, who dies, who tells your story”, unfortunately for Alexander Hamilton people have been successful in not only distorting his legacy but continue to underrate his role as founding father. With Dr. Knott’s energetic and engaging interpretation of Hamilton and the historiography of Hamilton he was able to explain why Alexander Hamilton receives a bad reputation. The answer is Thomas Jefferson who throughout and post Alexander’s life he attacked his character, because he not only felt that Alexander was not a true “American” since he immigrated from the Caribbean, but was also envious of how he started with no social standing yet became George Washington’s closet confidant. Thus Jefferson worked very hard to convince people that Hamilton was not worthy enough for the same praise received by the other Founding Fathers (Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Franklin, Jay, Madison.) These perceptions continue to be believed and spread today with the help of historians who adore Thomas Jefferson.

Which is extremely frustrating because the more we learn about Alexander Hamilton, the more we find how he was a self taught genius, who never held back how he felt about any person, place, or thing. Most importantly is that he wanted our country to not only thrive but to flourish, and dedicated his whole life to ensuring that.

To be able to be apart of this talk and the Q&A session after, was incredible. To realize so many people know about Alexander Hamilton and adore him is an experience unlike any other. It was powerful and moving to know that after 212 years his legacy still lives on.Now we can’t wait until tomorrow when we get to experience the musical, about a the man that we admire so greatly. We literally can’t contain ourselves right now.

 

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