Two types of Broadway history will be celebrated Friday at Trinity Church, where Alexander Hamilton is buried.
The founding father, recently made pop-culture super famous thanks to the exceptionally successful Broadway musical "Hamilton," was a parishioner in the late 1700s at Trinity Church, which sits along Broadway at Wall Street.
In honor of the musical's record-breaking 16 nominations for the TONY awards this weekend, Trinity Church is opening its Hamilton archives, displaying some rare documents related to his church years for a pop-up exhibit Friday.
"Alexander Hamilton has always been someone near and dear to our hearts at Trinity Church," said church archivist Anne Petrimoulx. "And we're thrilled to celebrate him and the musical."
Though the country's first secretary of the U.S. Treasury was also a pretty famous New Yorker during his lifetime, the musical "Hamilton" has breathed some unexpected new life into people's interest in him. Hamilton was infamously killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.
Petrimoulx said with the popularity of the musical, there has been a huge uptick in visitors to the church and historic grave site, where Hamilton's wife, Eliza, is also buried.
Eliza, Petrimoulx said, was much more of a devoted churchgoer, and while Alexander's level of connection with the church has been a "bit murkier," the documents on display Friday show a deep commitment to the parish.
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The display includes a 1787 Clergy Salary Subscription List where Hamilton pledges to give two pounds — the currency used after the Revolutionary War — toward salaries for the parish’s three assistant ministers. There's also a 1792 Petition to the Vestry, signed by Hamilton, asking for the Rev. John Bisset to come to the parish as an assistant minister.
The scroll, with Hamilton's signature, is a pledge from 1787 to help pay the salaries of assistant ministers. (Courtesy of Trinity Church)
Along with the rare documents, there will be a tour at 2 p.m. of the church and graveyard with — of course — a visit to Hamilton's final resting place.
Not to worry if you miss the tour — the church gives them every weekday for free at 2 p.m. It's a bit easier and less expensive than tickets to "Hamilton." There's also a virtual tour of some other Hamilton-related archival documents, which you can check out on Trinity's website.
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The Hamilton Pop-Up Exhibit will be on display Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street. For more information, head here.
