Alexander Hamilton Was Wicked Cool to Say the Least

And here's where I'm goin' tonite, kids, because I just can't get enough:

American Experience and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History present a sneak preview and behind-the-scenes look at the new documentary film, "ALEXANDER HAMILTON."

Trinity Church*
Broadway at Wall Street

7 pm

An inside look at Hamilton's life and the making of the film

with
Mark Samels, Executive Producer - American Experience
James Basker – President, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Muffie Meyer - Film Producer and Director

Panel discussion with:
Carol Berkin - Professor of History, Baruch College, CUNY
Ron Chernow - Award-winning author
Joanne Freeman - Professor of History, Yale University

*Alexander Hamilton is buried right there in the churchyard, man! Cool.

Post Script:

Everything about it was cool. Trinity Church is beautiful, and to think that the entire night was dedicated to remembering a fellow who is lying a few yards away under an obelisk in the grass is almost incredible. Alexander Hamilton's life of 49 years has been compared to a Greek Tragedy : His rise to power from poverty, his involvement in a sex scandal, and finally, his untimely and shocking death. He was a foreign-born genius (St. Croix) of the most humble beginnings, a true visionary, a doer, a believer in meritocracy, writer, lover, policy maker, a true American and founder of this country as we know it. As one of the presenters said tonight, "He invented what we call the American Dream. It was his dream for America."

If you don't have the attention span for Ron Chernow's award winning book, Alexander Hamilton, make sure you check out the new documentary, of the same name, which premieres on May 14 on PBS. The preview we saw tonight was fascinating; they used sophisticated computer generated image technology to reproduce the NYC streets as they would have looked back in his day, even going so far as using digital photos from Amsterdam of Dutch-style buildings common in early Manhattan--that no longer exist here--to get the accuracy just right.