Although Lin-Manuel Miranda is not the first person to come up with the idea of using history to write a play or a musical, he is currently the most popular!
Isn’t it so fun to be able to know all the right answers in history class when the teacher starts talking about Alexander Hamilton?
As soon as she says, “So, Alexander Hamilton had this rival, Aaron Burr….”, you know exactly who she’s talking about and could probably spout off his whole life’s story.
Wouldn’t school be so much more fun if we could learn about ALL of history this way?
Well, it’s possible.
We just need more people like you to keep seeing the stories in history.
SEEING THE STORY IN HISTORY
Have you ever thought about storytelling in history class?
What if your teacher starts talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement? Are you bored?
Maybe it’s your job to go home and think about the story in a more interesting way.
Maybe you write a song about what Rosa Parks was thinking when she was told to sit at the back of the bus.
Maybe you write a scene between Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta, where he shares his deepest insecurities about the whole thing.
Maybe you write about what it would have been like to live in that time, and how you can create history right now by standing up for those who are different than you are.
CORETTA SCOTT KING
Let’s put these ideas into action with an example.
You’re in history class learning about Martin Luther King Jr.
Your teacher says something like, “Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t go through everything alone, he had a family. He was married to a woman named Coretta Scott King.”
But that’s all she says.
You could blow past this, but what if there’s more to her story?
What if it’s just like Hamilton? He’s briefly mentioned, but it turns out there’s so much more to his story.
Let me tell you right now, Corretta was awesome.
“Although best known for being the wife of famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King created her own legacy in the movement to end injustice. She also worked to continue her husband’s legacy after his death.” (Norwood)
She established the King Center, which focused on protecting and advancing her husband’s legacy.
Sounds like another woman we know now, right?
In Eliza’s final song in Hamilton, we hear of everything she accomplished to protect and advance her husband’s legacy, creating a legacy of her own.
“Elizabeth did not spend her days in sorrow or self-pity, she immersed herself in charitable work, helping found New York’s first private Orphanage.” (PBS)
There could probably be an entirely new musical about Eliza Schuyler Hamilton.
Coretta Scott King also falls right in that category.
But, who knew? Now we do, so maybe it’s our job to tell not only her story, but to tell the stories of people just like her.
WHAT STORY DO YOU WANT TO TELL?
Seriously! What part of history is fascinating to you?
Do you love to learn about the wars?
Do you wonder what role women played in them?
Are you interested in the British Royal Family?
Do you want to know more about Black Culture?
History is already full of so much creative content. While coming up with a story from thin air can be fun and exciting as well, delving into our history and finding the stories already there can bring about a masterpiece.
So next time you’re bored in history class, start to think:
What was it really like?
Is there more to the story?
Is someone’s story going untold?
What else can I read?
More importantly, what can I write?
Send us what you discover! We just might share your thoughts, stories, or prompts in an upcoming article or video.