Monticello Restoration Project Puts An Increased Focus On Jefferson's Slaves

nhboy

Ubi bene ibi patria
Thomas Jefferson wrote the famous words "all men are created equal," but he also owned more than 600 slaves over the course of his life.

His Virginia plantation called Monticello is being renovated to shed more light on the enslaved people who lived and worked there.

One of the most notable of those slaves was Sally Hemings. Jefferson is widely believed to have fathered her six children. The museum is working to restore a restroom believed to be Hemings' living quarters.

"Sally Hemings has been hugely important in the American imagination for over 200 years. But mostly she's seen through Jefferson, and I think we wanted to, for the first time, devote a space that's just about her," Christa Dierksheide, a historian for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, tells NPR's Ari Shapiro. "That's seeing her as a person, as a mother, as a sister, as a daughter."

Through the restoration process, archaeologists have discovered what may have been Hemings' fireplace, the original brick floor and even traces of some shelves.

Dierksheide explains that Hemings' story was excluded from the history of Monticello until the 1990s because it was viewed as something that could taint Jefferson's reputation. Dierksheide also says there is much we still don't know about their nearly 40-year relationship.

"One of the things that visitors are surprised to learn is that she and Jefferson's wife, Martha, shared the same father, the slave trader John Wayles," Dierksheide says. "So that actually made Jefferson's wife and Sally Hemings half-sisters."

http://www.npr.org/2017/02/20/516292305/monticello-restoration-project-puts-an-increased-focus-on-jeffersons-slaves
 

Wishbone

New Member
"You see that dock out there? Built it myself, hand crafted each piece, and it's the best dock in town!

But do they call me "Jefferson the dock builder"? No!

And you see that bridge over there? I built that, took me two months, through rain, sleet and scoarching weather, but do they call me "Jefferson the bridge builder"? No!

And you see that pier over there, I built that, best pier in the county! But do they call me "Jefferson the pier builder"? No!"

The old guy looks around, and makes sure that nobody is listening, and leans to the man, and he says:

"but...
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Yes, let's make Monticello all about Sally Hemings. To hell with Founding Father and President and Statesman; Sally was a slave and that takes complete priority over any of the piddling crap Jefferson did.

Why is she more important than any of Jefferson's other slaves? What, you gotta screw the master to get any recognition and respect?

When you visit Monticello, the guides and docents are quite informative about the slave residents. They are not left out, nor are they marginalized. Slavery is not romanticized in any way. I think that's enough and there's no need to make a shrine for Sally Hemings.
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
I believe if you look it up he did not start having sex with Hemming until his wife was dead.
Not so kinky as she was almost white, and a couple of her sons actually passed for white.
Still she was a slave,and that was wrong, although we do not know if the sex was consensual or not.
As she was a slave I am pretty sure many Jefferson haters would claim rape.

Probably consensual as she got a lot of perks out of it.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Thomas Jefferson's Home Has Been Taken Over by Leftist America-Haters



“Who controls the past controls the future,” writes George Orwell in 1984. “Who controls the present controls the past.” Were he with us today, Orwell would be getting tired of being right all the time, but he has just been proven right again: Thomas Jefferson’s famed mansion Monticello has been turned into a fount of woke propaganda that denigrates Jefferson and treats unsuspecting visitors to an over-the-top orgy of victimhood and white guilt regarding slavery. The Left hates America and wants very much for you to hate it, too.

Jeffrey Tucker of the libertarian Brownstone Institute said Saturday that “the whole thing has the feel of propaganda and manipulation. People on my tour seemed sad and demoralized.” That’s exactly the goal, Mr. Tucker: make Americans sad and demoralized and vulnerable to those who would have them believe that this nation has been evil from the beginning and is in drastic need of a thorough overhauling of its political system and society in general. Tucker added that when he was at Monticello, his guide was “surly and dismissive” of Jefferson’s remarkable achievements.

Monticello is no longer about Mr. Jefferson’s achievements. According to the New York Post, Monticello’s “new emphasis is the culmination of a 10-year effort to balance the historical record, officials of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the nonprofit that owns the estate, have said.” “Balance the historical record”: that’s a calculated and clever way of saying “Do everything we can to denigrate Thomas Jefferson and make those who admire him enough to visit his home come out hating him.”

Accordingly, the Post reports, “visitors complain that employees go out of their way to belittle Jefferson and his life.” One visitor wrote on Facebook that “the tour guides play ‘besmirchment derby,’ never missing a chance to defame this brilliant, complex man.” Another wrote: “Always enjoyed visiting Monticello in the past. The workers are super friendly and helpful. Unfortunately on this guided tour, we were lectured more on slaves and Sally Hemmings than the man himself. Half of the comments on Jefferson were critical. I expected for, the price, to have enjoyed it more. Even my 11 yr old daughter noticed the bias. We all are aware of the tragedy of slavery during the early part of this country’s history. Please center your presentations on the man and his accomplishments rather than promoting guilt.” Not a chance.





I cannot find the article I posted in the past 6 months about the fight over the [ then ] current board of trustees ... from POC claiming racisim
 

herb749

Well-Known Member
Years ago when I visited it was all about Jefferson, his accomplishments & home. Last year when I was there it was slavery & slaves lives.
 
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