NPR

I Saved Every Letter You Wrote Me: The Library of Congress Digitizes Hamilton

For fans of Hamilton and history alike, the Library of Congress has put the hippest founding father online by digitizing Alexander Hamilton's papers and making them available on the Library's website.
The Library of Congress is home to The Alexander Hamilton Papers — a collection of 12,000 items. You can <strong><a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/alexander-hamilton-papers/about-this-collection/" target="_blank">view the documents online</a>.</strong>

If you've seen the hit musical — or even if you've only heard about it — you might want to know more about the founding father who was the United States' first Secretary of the Treasury. And if so, the Library of Congress just made it easier to go right to Before, if you wanted to see — for example — Alexander Hamilton's letters to his wife, you had to travel to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., and even then, you'd have to view them on microfilm. Now, Julie Miller, the Library's curator of Early American Manuscripts, says the collection has been digitized. "The web site is meant to open these up to a much broader public," she tells me — and given the increased interest in Hamilton, the timing is no accident. Miller says the musical's enormous popularity motivated the Library to make almost 900 Hamilton documents available on the internet. At a briefing, Miller and members of the Library's digital team lay out some of the original documents underneath a screen displaying the new website

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min readAmerican Government
Campus Protests Over Gaza Could Affect Graduation; Steve Inkseep Interviews Blinken
Hundreds of students have been arrested at pro-Palestinian protests at colleges nationwide. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Antony Blinken in an exclusive interview about U.S.-China relations.
NPR5 min readWorld
Blinken Tells China It's In Their Interest To Stop Helping Russia
NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken following his talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and top Chinese officials in Beijing.
NPR5 min readWorld
Blinken Tells China It's In Their Interest To Stop Helping Russia
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Secretary of State Blinken about U.S. foreign policy and his meeting with China's President Xi Jinping.

Related Books & Audiobooks