Celebrate America's 250th Anniversary on August 15th, 2026 10AM-3PM in Downtown Falls Village.
The day will be jam-packed with reenactors, house tours, historic demonstrations, horse-drawn carriage rides, historic tours, music and more!
From 12:30pm - 1:30pm, join us at the Center for a lecture on Alexander Hamilton, followed immediately by a one-woman play on the life of Rachael Faucett, mother of Hamilton.
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The Life of Alexander Hamilton
This lecture examines the life and work of Alexander Hamilton. From his humble beginnings as an illegitimate immigrant from the Danish West Indies, to his rise on the world stage as the right hand of George Washington and the architect of the federal government. Hamilton's inexhaustible drive and determination to leave his mark on the world changed the very world itself, and still defines the very essence of American exceptionalism.
JIMMY NAPOLI Jimmy Napoli has been a licensed N.Y.C. tour guide since 1996, specializing in the American Revolution, the creation of the Federal Government of the United States, the abolition movement, and women’s suffrage. His main area of interest and expertise is Alexander Hamilton. In 2007, Jimmy appeared in the PBS documentary “The American Experience; Alexander Hamilton,” written and directed by Middlemarch Films. In 2012, Jimmy was published in a re-edition of the classic biography “George Washington: The Indispensable Man”, by James Thomas Flexner, writing the additional essays and providing historical consultation on this Sterling Publishing signature edition. He is also a frequent lecturer at Morris-Jumel Mansion, George Washington’s 1776 headquarters in Harlem, where he speaks about the lives and legacies of America’s Founding Fathers. Currently, Jimmy is writing a book about 1790, centering around the second session of the United States Congress, held at Federal Hall on Wall Street. Born on Manhattan Island, Jimmy grew up fast in the turbulent 1970’s in the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens. He is currently traveling by boat to the US Virgin Islands with Eva and their cat, Zelda, to trace the footsteps of Alexander Hamilton and set up tours on the islands where Hamilton grew up. “Napoli is a force of nature, with the energy of an entire cast of actors.” - The New York Times
Raising a Revolutionary
This fictional play of Rachael Faucett by Eva Dorrepaal portrays the life of a scandalized 18th century woman and mother of a genius that was brilliant enough herself to see the greatness in her son.
Set in St Croix in the Danish West Indies 1767 it depicts the life, hardships and injustices of rural 18th century life from the perspective of a tenacious, independent and very modern woman as she struggles to raise 11 year old Alexander Hamilton and his older brother James.
EVA DORREPAAL Eva Dorrepaal has appeared in more than 40 independent films that have been screened in more than 50 film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto and Sundance. She has written and performed three solo shows: Mata Hari, Almost Mata Hari - Lovers, Letters and Killers and Raising a Revolutionary. She has also appeared in numerous European TV shows. After studying acting and directing in the Netherlands, she was invited to travel to former Yugoslavia to perform and live with the renowned KPGT theater group during the Serbo-Croatian war. She has played leading roles in almost all of Edwin Brienen's feature films, which were shot in Amsterdam and Berlin. In the late 1990's, Eva moved to New York, where she continues to work with filmmakers such as Jonathan Caouette, Jorge Torres-Torres and Onur Tukel (Catfight, Scenes from an Empty Church, Black Magic for White Boys).