ELIZA~

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

Eliza Hamilton.

ELIZA.

Wife. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Advocate. Activist. Philanthropist. Founder. Protector.

Survivor.

Warrior.

Badass.

Eliza Hamilton needs to be talked about in History books. Period. Alexander Hamilton is one of the Founding Fathers of the Nation. He’s on the $10 bill. He was a Statesman, Politician, Lawyer, Banker and Economist. He was orphaned as a child and overcame loss to become an aide through the war, a founder of the Bank of New York, wrote 51 of 85 Federalist Papers, and led the Treasury Department. He gets a lot of recognition, which he deserves. But Eliza gets next to nothing. She gets mentioned as “Alexander’s wife, Elizabeth.”

But she was so much more than just Alexander’s wife.

Eliza Hamilton was a wife, a mother to eight children, and a fierce protector of her husband’s legacy. She endured her husband’s affair, the loss of two children, her husband, both of her parents, and all but one of her fourteen (yes, fourteen) siblings. She lived to be ninety-seven-years-old, which is rare nowadays, let alone in the 1800s. And for nearly the entirety of her life, she remained active in her activist and philanthropist work.

Eliza helped Alexander with his political career and was an intermediary between Alexander and his publisher. She helped protect his legacy, long after his death, and demanded a public apology from James Monroe who accused Alexander of illegal financial dealings. She reorganized and preserved all of his letters, filings, and papers, along with the help of her son, who then went on to write multiple biographies about his father and family. While in her nineties, she pushed for Congress to publish Alexander’s work. Congress agreed and bought and published his work with the Library of Congress. Eliza also helped to raise funds to build the Washington Monument.

Eliza helped found and became the Vice President of the Orphan Asylum Society for fifteen years. She then served as the President for an additional twenty-seven years. She was inducted into the Philanthropy Section of the National Museum of American History.

She was an incredible woman who lived a long and meaningful life. She helped fight for what she believed in and took care of everyone that needed it.

Eliza Hamilton, you’re a badass. The World needs more people like you in it.

Thank you, for everything.