O
n 12 September 2017, senators and representatives
from both political parties, reporters, members of
the Historical Society, and family, friends, and colleagues
of Lin-Manuel Miranda crowded into National Statuary
Hall of the U.S. Capitol as Miranda was presented with
the USCHS Freedom Award. House Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi made congratulatory remarks before Sen. Lisa
Murkowski introduced Miranda.
In a moving acceptance speech, Miranda expressed con-
fidence in the power of history to inform the future. "e
opportunity to create the Hamilton Education Program
with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History,
our producer Jeffrey Seller, and helmed by my dad, Luis
Miranda, has been the highlight of it all. It fills me with
great pride to see the high school kids performing their
original works on the same stage where Hamilton is per-
formed—and then to hear that they want to be teachers and
historians as a result. at 250,000 kids from all over the
country from Title I schools will have the opportunity to
go through the program is a legacy for all involved. ey're
not all going to grow up and go into theater. But in engag-
ing Hamilton's story in a real way, they begin to define their
own. ey begin to ask, what kind of country do we want to
create for ourselves?"
In thanking the Historical Society, Miranda said,
"rough its work, the Historical Society gives us the tools
to wrestle with our history, and to understand that the same
philosophical disagreements about the proper role and size
of government that underpinned the Constitutional Con-
vention, and the battle over abolition, and so many other
flashpoints in the American experiment, continue to drive
what happens in this building now."
Rep. John Lewis, a former recipient of the USCHS
Freedom Award, joined USCHS Chair Donald Carlson
to present the award to Miranda. Lewis continued with an
emotional tribute to Miranda for the work he has done. e
program can be accessed through www.uschs.org or viewed
on the C-SPAN website at www.c-span.org.
50 THE CAPITOL DOME
BiPartisan Congratulations for 2017 Freedom Award Recipient Lin-Manuel Miranda
Pelosi makes congratulatory remarks in National Statuary Hall.
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(Le) Carlson and Lewis present the Freedom Award to Miranda; (Center) Miranda and author Ron Chernow in the Rotunda
with the statue of Alexander Hamilton; (Right) Miranda takes a selfie with Sens. Patrick Leahy and Lisa Murkowski.
