VIRTUAL: An Evening with Professor Andrew Porwancher, Author of The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton

Discover the untold story of the founding father’s likely Jewish birth and upbringing—and its revolutionary consequences for understanding him and the nation he fought to create. Join the Hudson Library & Historical Society on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. for a livestreaming event with professor Andrew Porwancher, who will discuss his book, The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton. During the month of May, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will bring Alexander Hamilton to the Hudson Library in the traveling exhibition, “Alexander Hamilton: Immigrant, Patriot, Visionary.” The exhibit will be on display in the library through May 26.

In The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Porwancher debunks a string of myths about the origins of this founding father to arrive at a startling conclusion: Hamilton, in all likelihood, was born and raised Jewish. For more than two centuries, his youth in the Caribbean has remained shrouded in mystery and most biographers have simply assumed he had a Christian boyhood. With a detective’s persistence and a historian’s rigor, Porwancher upends that assumption and revolutionizes our understanding of an American icon. This radical reassessment of Hamilton’s religious upbringing gives us a fresh perspective on both his adult years and the country he helped forge. By setting Hamilton in the context of his Jewish world for the first time and challenges us to rethink the life and legend of America’s most enigmatic founder.

Andrew Porwancher is the Wick Cary Professor at the University of Oklahoma, teaching courses in Constitutional Studies. His first book, The Devil Himself: A Tale of Honor, Insanity, and the Birth of Modern America, was adapted for the stage in Dublin and The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton recently won the Journal of the American Revolution Book-of-the-Year Award. His writing has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

Registration for this program is required and a valid email address is required at the time of registration. Participants will receive an email invitation a day before the program begins.

If you have any questions, please email askus@hudson.lib.oh.us or call (330) 653-6658 x1010.