A friend writes:
The New York Historical Society, a short walk down Central Park West from
the Musem of Natural History, can’t be missed now, even from outer space. It’s a limestone
building whose facade takes up an entire block — and the entire facade is covered by a cloth sign
proclaiming the Alexander Hamilton exhibition
within. Enormous. With Hamilton’s $10 picture dead center. Though it must be one of the largest
signs in the world, I’ve seen no newspaper photos suggesting its enormity.
Inside, for your ten bucks you see the Constitution he signed, his neat letters from age 12, his
notes for Federalist essays and Washington’s farewell address. And lifesize bronze statues of
Hamilton and Aaron Burr, 20 paces apart, pointing dueling pistols at each other. Hamilton was
5’7″, Burr 5’6″. So Hamilton presented a bigger target — it’s dangerous to be big, just as my mom
always said.
The catalogue comes in the form of an issue of the New York Post, written in breathless Post
style but quoting original documents verbatim. The main room is overly dark and overly quiet;
could use some 18th century music. I expected hordes of people because of the wide advertising
and the current interest in Hamilton, but it was like being in the Brooklyn Museum, which, despite
the new look, is drawing few visitors. But then, Kerry also may find too few visitors to his
voting-booth lever. The American people, they are a strange posse.
