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Don’t miss Dr. Richard Bell and “Hamilton, the Founders, and Democracy” on Thursday, October 1. The event is proudly presented by History Colorado’s riveting election-year speaker series, This Is What Democracy Looks Like. Participants may choose from two live online presentations available at 1 and 7 pm. More information and tickets ($5–15) are available via h-co.org/democracy and the event page at h-co.org/hamilton. 

Prepare to clutch your pearls, because real-life Alexander Hamilton barely knew Aaron Burr during the Revolutionary War, and their duel didn’t really occur until four years after the election of 1800. But don’t cancel your subscription to Disney+ just yet. After all, the truth should never get in the way of a good musical—and Dr. Richard Bell has so much more to offer than just the facts. The original cast’s headline-grabbing 2016 appeal to audience member (and Vice President-elect) Mike Pence is just the beginning of Hamilton’s fascinating ties to current events and politics.

Dr. Richard Bell is Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland. He holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Harvard University. Bell has won more than a dozen teaching awards. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress, and received the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar award. His latest book is Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home.

About the Speaker Series
Part of an ambitious election-year initiative, History Colorado’s 2020–2021 speaker series aims to be as multi-dimensional, provocative, and participatory as democracy itself. Denver Freedom Riders founder Anthony Grimes and Garrett Reppenhaggen—a third-generation American veteran, and the executive director of Veterans For Peace—join Bell among upcoming presenters through June of 2021. The online forum may extend to complementary in-person experiences at a later date. Tickets ($5–15) and complete details are available at h-co.org/lectures.      

The This Is What Democracy Looks Like Speaker Series is supported by:
Walter S. Rosenberry III Charitable Trust  | Abarca Family Foundation | Richard and Mary Lyn Ballantine | Peter and Rhondda Grant | George and Mary Sissel | Donors to the Executive Director's Innovation Fund | Donors to the Women’s Vote Centennial

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that serves more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 141-year-old institution that operates Colorado’s oldest museum, nine additional museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is the nation’s largest preservation program of its kind. The SHF currently administers more than 280 grants worth approximately $24 million in active distributions across the state. More than 70% of its grants are currently allocated in rural areas of Colorado.

History Colorado’s outlets are publishing Black voices and confronting entrenched racism in historic preservation. Within the last year History Colorado has added curators of Latino Heritage and LGBTQ+ History to its staff, and added a full-time position to its Museum of Memory team, which works proactively to incorporate underserved communities and voices into its contemporary collecting initiative and other efforts. Its recent statement and historical essay on civil unrest have been widely shared by major news outlets. 

History Colorado’s eight museums around the state were among the first cultural institutions in Colorado to reopen to visitors under new safety protocols. The swift return to in-person service in June followed an agile reorganization in response to COVID-19 that catalyzed new avenues for youth education, full-length episodes of its podcasts, a weekly digest with over 28,000 subscribers, and one of the nation’s most comprehensive collecting initiatives: a partnership with dozens of schools, communities, and more than 40 newsrooms called History in the Making. The SHF has already distributed $4.2 million since mid-March and continues its grant funding on schedule. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and nine other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.

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