One of the great things about going to High School in the Commonwealth of Virginia is the immediacy of the history. Before Andrew Jackson, every US President was either an Adams or a Virginian. They kind of take that very seriously down there. Of course, there is an equal amount of history surrounding the Civil War, but that’s for another time.
One of the things that has always affected the story telling of Virginian history is the relationship with both Native Americans and slavery. The Founding Fathers, authors of truly revolutionary tracts about the meaning of Liberty and Freedom, held slaves. While they were pondering the Enlightenment, they owned human beings as property. Thomas Jefferson owned roughly the equivalent of $20 million in slaves over the course of his lifetime.
Seeking Sally Hemings: See photos of the excavations at Jefferson’s Monticello from WaPo
Recently, Jefferson’s home Monticello began a restoration project to highlight the role of slavery on the plantation and the life of Sally Hemings. For those who might not know, Sally Hemings was Jefferson’s slave. Much younger than Jefferson, she accompanied his daughter to France during his ambassadorship. Sally Hemings’ relationship with Jefferson is pretty much understood to be sexual and she is thought to have borne the man several children. We do know that she did have children during her life at Monticello.
*from The Root *
Today, we do not have any historical record of how Hemings regarded her relationship with Jefferson. We know that Hemings was about 14-years-old when her son alleged that her relationship with Jefferson began, supposedly in France (he was 44, and she was accompanying his daughter Maria on a 1787 trip to Paris).
But given that she was underage and he “owned” her, the issue of consent is one that many say that Hemings could not have possibly given.
Monticello
As I said, I was afforded the opportunity to come into contact with history as a student in Virginia. Every year, millions of visitors make the trek to Jefferson’s plantation to view the trappings of his life. There is evidence of his life as a thinker, scientist, farmer, and polyglot. Monticello is truly a fantastic living history museum. The issue of slavery on the plantation of the man who wrote “all men are created equal”, until now, was sort of glossed over.
Jefferson's former plantation quickly works to include the stories of the enslaved: video from WaPo
Monticello is in the beginning phase of a $35 million restoration project that is, for the first time, going to reflect on the vital role that slavery in general and Hemings in particular played on the plantation. Where before you could only see traces if you looked, or had a particularly good tour guide, at Monticello. Now those traces will be restored and recognized officially.
For decades they hid Jefferson’s relationship with her. Now Monticello is making room for Sally Hemings. from WaPo
The room where historians believe Sally Hemings slept was just steps away from Thomas Jefferson’s bedroom. But in 1941, the caretakers of Monticello turned it into a restroom.
The floor tiles and bathroom stalls covered over the story of the enslaved woman, who was owned by Jefferson and had a long-term relationship with him. Their involvement was a scandal during his life and was denied for decades by his descendants. But many historians now believe the third president of the United States was the father of her six children.
Time, and perhaps shame, erased all physical evidence of her presence at Jefferson’s home here, a building so famous that it is depicted on the back of the nickel.
Now the floor tiles have been pulled up and the room is under restoration — and Hemings’s life is poised to become a larger part of the story told at Monticello.
“Visitors will come up here and understand that there was no place on this mountaintop that slavery wasn’t,” said Christa Dierksheide, a Monticello historian. “Thomas Jefferson was surrounded by people, and the vast majority of those people were enslaved.”
I just thought you guys might like to know about the efforts at Monticello. This is important. It is another step towards officially recognizing the stain of slavery on the nation’s soul.