PHILADELPHIA — The Broadway musical “Hamilton” and the historian whose book inspired it will collect the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal this fall, an award for efforts to spread liberty around the world.
Ron Chernow and “ Hamilton ” will collect the medal and its $100,000 cash prize at an event in October on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.
Award organizers credited the book and musical for having a “singular impact” by bringing to life and spreading the story of the U.S. Constitution and Alexander Hamilton, a pivotal figure in drafting and promoting the governing document. He was also the first U.S. treasury secretary.
“Hamilton,” which debuted on Broadway a decade ago, has become a cultural touchstone, winning the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy and 11 Tony awards.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the musical, called the award a deep honor.
“The Constitution is not just a historical artifact — it’s a challenge. A call to participate. To speak up, to imagine better, and to work, every day, toward that more perfect union,” he said in a statement released before the formal announcement.
Chernow’s many books have included biographies of former presidents George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant and, more recently, of writer and humoristMark Twain.
“In writing about Hamilton, Washington, and Grant, I’ve come to see that liberty is not a gift passed down through generations — it’s a responsibility,” Chernow said in a statement. “One that demands courage, compromise, and commitment. These men were imperfect, but they dared to envision something greater than themselves.”
The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to honor the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution’s 1787 signing. Recent winners have included the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and PBS documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
