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Betty Ann Fitch

Fitch-Henderson-marriage.jpg
Marriage license for Thomas Jefferson Fitch and Mary Elizabeth Henderson, 1910  

Dates: 1939–

Family: Coleman-Henderson

Residence (at time of interview): Charlottesville, VA

Betty Ann Fitch is part of an extended family that worked and lived at Monticello for more than a century.  She earned her master’s degree in English and became a teacher.  She was particularly close to her grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Henderson Fitch, who was orphaned at age four and taken in by the Levy-Mayhoff family, the owners of Monticello.  Mary Elizabeth Henderson lived with and worked for the Mayhoffs for more than twenty years, spending long periods in New York City as well as Monticello.  She married Thomas Jefferson Fitch, the Monticello coachman and chauffeur.  Betty Ann Fitch is her family’s history-keeper and treasures a quilt made by her grandmother and her sewing circle.

Interview Information

21 Jan. 1995, Charlottesville, VA
Interviewees: Betty Ann Fitch, Mary Reaves, Thomas Fitch

25 Feb. 1995, Charlottesville, VA
Interviewees: Betty Ann Fitch, Mary Reaves

Excerpts

(audio)
“I don’t want to sit back here”

Betty Ann Fitch recalls protesting as a child when she was told to sit at the back of the bus.

Theme: Racial Prejudice

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(audio)
“You have a name to be proud of”

Betty Ann Fitch recalls her grandmother’s advice.

Theme: Family

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(audio)
“The beauty of Monticello and the ugliness of slavery”

Betty Ann Fitch recalls learning about slavery from her grandparents.

Themes: Monticello, Slavery

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Ancestry

  • Willis Shelton ca. 1835–1902 Martha West ca. 1843–
  •  
  • Elizabeth Shelton Henderson ca. 1856–1888
  •  
  • Mary E. Henderson Fitch 1881–1950
  •  
  • Betty Ann Fitch 1939–
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