The Getting Word African American Oral History Project preserves the histories of Monticello’s enslaved families and their descendants.
Through over 100 interviews with participants and countless hours of research, remarkable stories have emerged to form an archive of freedom.
“You Don’t Know Until You Make Some Connection”
Ronald Smith talks about discovering his Woodson ancestry.
Ronald Smith: I really didn’t find out until two years ago that I was related to “the” Thomas C. Woodson. As indicated before, it was through the Ebony Magazine that I finally became aware that we were talking about the same people. I wasn’t aware until I actually made the phone call because a lot of names are similar and you don’t know if you’re talking about son or master, or slave or master. You just don’t know until you make some connection. It wasn’t until I finally talked to James Wiley after the search for his telephone number and called him to ask Thomas C. Woodson’s wife and daughter’s name that I really made the connection that we were talking about the same person.
Themes: Jefferson Descent
