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| Mary Anne Hamilton (left) with fans at Hamil*Fest |
Fans of Alexander
Hamilton, the Founding Father turned pop star, got to meet one of his
actual family members at SPC-Gibbs Campus during at a recent event
called Hamil*Fest. Yes, American history, and fittingly during
Women's History Month “her story” lives among us in Mary Anne
Hamilton, the widow of the great-great-grandson of Alexander
Hamilton. The Seminole resident was a featured guest in February at
this festival for fans of the man and the hit musical.
A retired real estate
agent and mother of five, Mary Anne now finds herself in the role of
goodwill ambassador who spreads Alexander’s story. As the world is
discovering, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway play,
Hamilton’s achievements have been considerably downplayed by most
historians.
“People of all ages are
excited to hear Mary Anne speak, “ said Hamil*Fest organizer Greg
Plantamura, “We’re very grateful that St. Pete College hosted our
event as part of the local community.”
Mary Anne shared that she
travelled to Alexander’s birthplace on Nevis most recently in
January for the celebration of Alexander’s 261st
birthday. Of her seven visits to Nevis, her first was on a yacht
with her husband in 1966, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth.
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| Hamil*Fest organizer Greg Plantamura (left) with Mary Anne Hamilton and Rand Scholet, Founder of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society |
Alexander Hamilton
migrated from the Island of Nevis to the British colonies in 1772 as
an orphan and was labeled by society as “illegitimate”. If not
for the immigrant Hamilton, the formation and groundwork laid for the
U.S. Constitution, and our financial and judicial systems would not
have taken present form.
Distinct contributions of
immigrants, benefits of proficiencies in foreign languages, and often
unacknowledged accomplishments of women were actually indispensable
at the outset of our Country, even as today. U.S. history reflects
the contributions of women such as Hamilton’s mother Rachel
Faucette. Mary Anne explained that his mother spoke French to him at
home in Nevis and “that is why he was so good dealing with
Lafayette and the French Army during the Revolution”.
Also at Hamil*Fest,
Mariana Oller, Chair of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society
(a.k.a. “AHA”) attested to how critical France’s support was of
the colonists in efforts against King George, which resulted in
independence of the colonies from England. Oller noted the
translation of military strategy and orders into French, which were
used by French troops in military action. The value and necessity of
Hamilton being multilingual are apparent from our Country’s very
inception which was dependent literally upon command of more than one
language.
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| (L to R) Dave Downey, Greg Plantamura, Mary Anne Hamilton, and Rand Scholet were among the presenters at Hamil*Fest |
George Washington himself
recognized Hamilton as his right-hand man in words presented from
original documents by panelist Oller. She read Washington’s
written words from 1798: “Alexander Hamilton was my principle and
most confidential aide.”
Another speaker, Rand
Scholet of Clearwater, President of AHA shared that before beginning
his own in-depth research he questioned the importance of Hamilton’s
contributions. Scholet noted that American history often gave more
attention to the efforts of Thomas Jefferson. Through use of his
background in computer analysis Scholet demonstrated the massive and
enduring importance of Hamilton’s contributions in a fact-based
comparison to six other Founding Fathers. Scholet expounded “In
1789, Hamilton took a nation deeply in debt from the Revolutionary
War and developed financial strategies that created a bustling
national economy such that our nation’s first budget surplus was
realized by 1793, and our nation has never looked back.”
Hamil*Fest included a
presentation by Michelle Luckett of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
District 7. Another speaker, Dave Downey, told of the Coast Guard
Cutter named after Hamilton which was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in
1942. Downey detailed the story of the rescue of more than 200
American Coast Guardsmen by Icelandic civilian boats. In 2009 this
Cutter was located by sonar and a conjoint international team
submerged to place a memorial plaque on said ship.
There have been six Coast
Guard Cutters named for Hamilton, one of which in 1978 took Mary
Anne’s husband’s ashes out to sea. “My husband was at its
christening in New Orleans … and when he died he wanted his ashes
scattered in the Caribbean Sea so that they could float back to
Nevis.” The Cutter happened to be in Jacksonville the next month
so her husband’s wish was fulfilled.
There are a variety of
reasons to respect Hamilton’s legacy and humanity. Scholet noted
Hamilton’s role in educating indigenous people as Founding Trustee
of Hamilton College for the Oneida Indians. He established the
African Free School in NYC, and co-founded the New York State society
for the manumission (freeing) of slaves.
It is important to
recognize the contributions of our forefathers and foremothers and
particularly noteworthy to appreciate those among us who can relate
those contributions to us first-hand. Plantamura enthusiastically
shared, “In the words from the musical’s conclusion, Hamilton
himself would be proud to know that Mary Anne keeps his flame and
tells his story.”
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| Mary Anne Hamilton's family has a proud heritage. |
