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s e r v i n g tay l or , ol d f or g e , moosic & surrounding areas triborobanner.com | april 13, 2017
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the eyes of history Riverside fifth-grader requesting a Hamilton holiday
By Josh McAuliffe
sPeciAl To The TRiBoRo BANNeR Leah Pfeiffer might only be 10 years old, but already the Riverside Elementary School East fifth-grader is a full-fledged American history buff. Her primary subject of interest is Alexander Hamilton, whose stature among the Founding Fathers has risen significantly of late thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenally successful Broadway musical, “Hamilton: An American Musical.” The musical proved highly instrumental in Leah’s current mission to make Hamilton’s Jan. 11 birthday a national holiday. With guidance from her teacher, Gina Grebas, Leah recently wrote a persuasive essay making her case that she then sent to the Washington D.C., offices of U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey. “I really do believe that young people can make a difference in the world, so I encourage my students to do things like write letters,” Grebas said. “I said to Leah, ‘Why don’t you write a letter?’ And so she did.” In the letter, Leah makes her case by pointing out some of the many highlights of Hamilton’s life, from his bravery fighting in the American Revolution to his co-authorship of the Federalist Papers. “It took me about two or three weeks to write,” said Leah, daughter of Nicole
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and Ira Pfeiffer. “She worked very hard on it,” Grebas said. “She did a lot of research. And she made sure it was persuasive.” Leah hasn’t yet had the opportunity to see “Hamilton,” given the tickets are famously hard to come by. However, she’s listened to the musical’s soundtrack countless times, memorizing about 23 of its songs so far. If she had to pick a favorite, it would probably be “Farmer Refuted.” “I can rap most of the songs. I sing them a lot on the bus,” Leah said. “I really like the music, and when I understood the music it just made me love Alexander Hamilton even more. I really admire that to save the country he was willing to die or do whatever he had to do.” The musical has led Leah to seek out as much information as possible regarding Hamilton’s life. By her own estimation, she has already read eight or nine Hamilton biographies. “And she’s read each biography many times,” Grebas said. “She also did a biography project on him.” Soon, Leah plans to begin reading historian Ron Chernow’s 800 page-plus Hamilton biography, which served as Miranda’s inspiration for the musical. “If there’s a book about Alexander Hamilton out there, I will read it,” Leah said. Grebas is confident Leah will eventually hear back from the congressional offices. Whether it leads to a concerted effort by Congress to enact a Hamilton national holiday remains to be seen, but regardless it was a worthwhile endeavor. Leah thoroughly enjoyed the letter-
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Leah Pfeiffer holds the letter she wrote.
writing process and is thrilled that her passion for Hamilton has managed to rub off on her fellow classmates. “A lot of my friends want to write letters now,” she said. Grebas counts herself among those Leah has inspired.
“She’s persuaded me to learn more about our Founding Fathers, particularly Alexander Hamilton,” Grebas said. And, she added, “She’s convinced me that Alexander Hamilton deserves his own special day.”