PHILADELPHIA — Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Revolutionary hit musical "Hamilton" and author Ron Chernow, whose book inspired it, will be awarded the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal this fall in the city where it happened (the Revolution, that is).

Established in 1988 to mark the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, the award honors those of “courage and conviction” who work to “secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.”

Previous Liberty Medal recipients include Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Sandra Day O’Connor.

The award is being given to Chernow and "Hamilton" for their “transformational contributions to civic education,” “their singular impact in bringing the story of the U.S. Constitution to life,” and for “inspiring a deeper public engagement with the principles of the founding era,” according to a news release from the National Constitution Center.

“In creating 'Hamilton,' I set out to tell the story of one of our most complicated Founding Fathers, but more important, to invite new generations into the story of America. The Constitution is not just a historical artifact — it’s a challenge. A call to participate. To speak up, to imagine better, and to work, every day, toward that more perfect union,” Miranda said in the release.

This year marks a decade since the debut of "Hamilton," which blends rap, hip-hop and R&B to tell the story of the Founding Fathers with a cast featuring mostly Black and Latino actors. It became a juggernaut and went on to win 11 Tonys, a Pulitzer Prize for drama and a host of other awards.

In the years since, the show faced criticisms for historical inaccuracies and skimming over the Founding Fathers’ role in slavery. In a 2020 post on Twitter, Miranda wrote: “All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get.”

Miranda was inspired to create the musical after reading Chernow’s 2004 biography, "Alexander Hamilton," which won the George Washington Book Prize. In 2011, Chernow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography for his book, "Washington: A Life."

“In writing about Hamilton, Washington, and Grant, I’ve come to see that liberty is not a gift passed down through generations — it’s a responsibility. One that demands courage, compromise, and commitment. These men were imperfect, but they dared to envision something greater than themselves,” Chernow said in the news release.

The Liberty Medal, which will be awarded on Oct. 17 during a ceremony overlooking Independence Mall, comes with a $100,000 prize. According to the release, the half designated for "Hamilton" will go to Gilder Lehrman’s Hamilton Education Program, which uses the musical to engage students in history, civics, and the arts.

This is the first time the Liberty Medal has been awarded to a work of art. While rare, it has been given to organizations in the past like CNN International; DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), the advocacy group co-founded by Bono; and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

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