Gilder Lehrman 2017 Gala: Honoring Champions of History John Nau III and Jeffrey Seller

On Monday, May 8 the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History held its 2017 Gala, bringing together more than 300 supporters at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. This year we honored John L. Nau, III, and Jeffrey Seller, raising over $1.1 million in recognition of these individuals who have made an enormous impact on American history education and historic preservation. 

President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute James G. Basker praised the honorees for having "risen to the very top of their respective businesses while also making transformative contributions to American history, to education, and to civic life." In recognition of these contributions, Mr. Nau and Mr. Seller received the Gilder Lehrman Champion of History Award.

Honoree John L. Nau, III, is chairman and CEO of Silver Eagle Distributors LP. Mr. Nau’s generosity and commitment to service is apparent through his 40-year participation in civic, community, and philanthropic organizations in Texas and across the country. He is currently chairman of the Texas Historical Commission and on the board of the National Park Foundation, the Civil War Trust, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. Mr. Nau has supported the Gilder Lehrman Institute since 2003, and was instrumental in establishing the National History Teacher of the Year program. Under former president George W. Bush, he served as chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. President Bush, in a special written tribute, commended Mr. Nau for being "a lifelong and passionate student of history who has done so much to advance public understanding of the story of his nation and state."

Honoree Jeffrey Seller is the four-time Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway musicals Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights, and Hamilton. Two of these musicals, Rent and Hamilton, also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Mr. Seller, along with former business partner Kevin McCollum, created the Broadway lottery for Rent, beginning a Broadway tradition that has, for twenty years, provided affordable access to Broadway productions. Mr. Seller served as the catalyst in the creation of the Hamilton Education Program, which has given low-income students across the country the opportunity to explore the Founding Era and their own creative talents. Mr. Seller remains actively involved in the education program, which, within its first five years, will reach 250,000 students.

Attendees who came to celebrate history and honor Mr. Nau and Mr. Seller included Gilder Lehrman’s two newest trustees, Julian Robertson and Luis Miranda; leading historians Carol Berkin, David Blight, and Ron Chernow; Craig Stapleton, former US ambassador to the Czech Republic and to France and his wife Debbie Stapleton, a trustee of the Institute; Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Trust; Carmen Fariña, chancellor of New York City Schools; and Pam Schafler, chair of the New-York Historical Society, and Louise Mirrer, president of the New-York Historical Society, among other distinguished guests in the political, philanthropic, historical, and education fields.

The evening concluded with a special performance by Providence St. Mel student Kai Bosley, a participant in the Hamilton Education Program’s inaugural Chicago matinee. Ms. Bosley’s powerful piece, written from the perspective of a war-weary George Washington camped at Valley Forge, was inspired by a letter by Washington that Ms. Bosley studied as part of the Hamilton Education Program. The performance joined several interactive activities throughout the evening including an audience-wide history quiz and a demonstration of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s new virtual reality Google Expeditions based on Alexander Hamilton’s life.

View photos from the evening below! 
Photo Credit: llir Bajraktari