CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Though Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello, have long been a focal point of historical conversations on the birth of the nation, a portion of the narrative has been missing.
The historic plantation opened six new exhibits spotlighting the role Sally Hemings and other enslaved families played in its creation and daily life.
The story of Hemings, who lived and worked at Monticello for almost her entire life, was driving force behind the creation of the exhibits. She is widely believed by historians to have given birth to six of Jefferson’s children. DNA evidence connects the bloodlines of Hemings’ and Jefferson’s descendants, and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Monticello, formally recognized the relationship in 2000.
The opening marked the end of the five-year restorative project, and nearly 300 descendants of the enslaved families at the Albemarle County estate were present for the opening. It was the largest gathering of slave descendants in Monticello’s history.
Visitors are now able to visit the South Wing, where Hemings once lived. Via an immersive digital experience, visitors learn about her life through the words of her son Madison.
Although the project took five years, the fight to get recognition for enslaved families has gone back decades. For Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian who authored “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy” in 1997, hearing Hemings’ story told through the words of her family was a step in the right direction.
The experiences recorded about slavery from black Americans often have been ignored, she said; it is a byproduct of white supremacist thought that helped drive her to write her book.
“It struck me as morally wrong that the people who were the objects of oppression in slavery were the people who were made to bear the burden of proving what they said actually happened,” she said.
The story of Hemings relationship with Jefferson remains a difficult one to broach in today’s society, Gordon-Reed said. At 14, Hemings traveled to France with Jefferson’s oldest daughter, Martha, where she spent two years.
As France had abolished slavery, Hemings initially refused to return to the U.S. But after Jefferson promised freedom for her future children, she returned to Virginia. Although she went on to bear some of Jefferson’s children, we’ll never know whether the relationship was a loving one, Gordon-Reed said.
“An enslaved woman once she came back to Virginia, (she) was not able to refuse consent,” she said. “I have no problem believing he had some kind of attachment to her, but we know nothing about her.”
For Rasheeda Abdullah, a descendant of the Gillette family - unrelated to the Hemings - visiting Monticello brings up a mixture of complicated and conflicting feelings.
Seeing the gorgeous architecture of the estate, she said she couldn’t help but feel pride in what her ancestors had built. However, the knowledge they spent their whole lives enslaved at Monticello, and are just now beginning to be recognized for their labor, weighed heavy on her.
“The exhibit is a step in the right direction for certain, but I can’t help but feel it should be recognized that this entire place is their achievement,” she said.
Abdullah said she hopes to see the exhibits expanded in the future to include more stories of the other enslaved families who lived there.
The descendants of these families helped breathe life into the exhibit via the Getting Word project, said Leslie Greene Bowman, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. One of the largest oral history projects in the nation, Getting Word has recorded interviews with more than 200 descendants of Monticello’s slaves.
“Stories of work, struggle, hopes and dreams have added an essential human dimension to our study of slavery,” she said.
Getting Word - along with the life of Sally Hemings and exhibits on Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, the Granger-Hemings Kitchen, the dairy and the textile workshop - are now available for visitors to experience. Located near Mulberry Row, where the enslaved families lived, visitors now will be able to experience the closest thing to what life at Monticello was like, Bowman said.
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Information from: The Daily Progress, http://www.dailyprogress.com
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