In October 2015, Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Rockefeller Foundation, the NYC Department of Education, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute announced an educational partnership to provide 20,000 NYC Title I public school students with the opportunity to see Hamilton on Broadway and integrate the show into classroom studies.
This educational initiative, which has reached 200,000 students in Title I–eligible schools nationwide, is possible thanks to support from national and local donors, including The Rockefeller Foundation.
Before the students see the show, their teachers guide them through a unique, hands-on class project using Gilder Lehrman Institute resources to introduce the students to the people, events, and documents of the founding era. In addition, the students learn how Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, incorporated primary sources into the songs he wrote for the show and use that knowledge to produce their own performance pieces.
To support these projects, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has created student and teacher guides for classroom use and an exclusive website featuring primary sources and videos to facilitate student research. Among the videos are clips from Hamilton and interviews with Lin-Manuel Miranda, selected cast members, and Ron Chernow, whose biography Alexander Hamilton inspired the musical. This innovative program integrating history and performing arts allows teachers to bring American history to the classroom in a new way and helps students find their own connections to the founding era.
To apply for the program, visit our How to Participate in the EduHam page here.
To access the digital curriculum for free, enroll in our EduHam Online program here.
For those who are not currently part of the Hamilton Education Program, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has resources on our website available to everyone, including a timeline, Alexander Hamilton and the Founding of the United States; an online exhibition, Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America; and an issue of the online journal History Now, Alexander Hamilton in the American Imagination. In addition, you may find many documents by Alexander Hamilton in the Gilder Lehrman Collection, order posters of founding era documents from our shop, or request a Traveling Exhibition on Alexander Hamilton.
For press inquiries, please contact hamilton@gilderlehrman.org.