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Featured: An Evening with David Brooks |
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David Brooks, New York Times columnist and weekly regular on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, speaks at Monticello about historical and modern divisions in American society using the tensions between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as a touchstone (from June 2006). |
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 Fashioning the American Diplomat
It was as important then as today. What to wear? This is what Jefferson faced in 1786 when, while serving as the United States's Minister to France, he sat for the famous portaitist Mather Brown. Monticello Research Historian Gaye Wilson examines the details of this portrait—one of the earliest formal images of Jefferson—and compares it with those of his American and European peers.
(from September 2005). Watch the video »
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 Gardens and Grounds Tour
Join Monticello's Director of Gardens and Grounds Peter Hatch for a an in-depth look a the unique horticultural world Jefferson created on his beloved mountaintop.
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 Thomas Jefferson's Formative Years
Just prior to her death last September, Mary Lee Settle, author of O Beulah Land and recipient of the National Book Award, was working on a historical novel about Jefferson's childhood. On August 17, 2004, she shared her thoughts about researching this little known era of Jefferson's life and described how she planned to fill in the gaps. Watch the video » |
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 Bernard McMahon's Republican Seeds
Can seeds be political? Can a gardening how-to book also be a radical tract? In this talk, Robert S. Cox, former Keeper of Manuscripts at the American Philosophical Society, introduces us to Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon, author of The American Gardener's Calendar, friend of Thomas Jefferson, and critical member of a large and colorful group that determined the fate of the scientific findings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (from Aug. 28, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Bartram's Nursery and Garden
The Bartram Nursery is typically credited with being one of the first in the nation. But who were the members of this pioneering family? How did they become central to the growth of American botany, agriculture, and gardening? And what is their legacy? Elizabeth McLean, Research Associate in Botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, gives a the full story. (from Aug. 28, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Antique Plant Catalogues
You get 'em. And believe it or not, your grandmother's grandmother might have too. Those seed and plant catalogs that come in the mail. But what kinds of plants did she grow? What were they called? What did they look like? Historian Denise Adams traces the history of these still familiar marketing tools and describes how she uses them to answer some of these questions.
(from Aug. 28, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Thomas Jefferson and George III
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson laid the blame for the American Revolution squarely at the feet of George III. But later historians have tended to downplay the monarch's role in the struggle. Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy, historian and Saunders Director of Monticello's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, makes the case Jefferson's view was probably the more accurate (from Sep. 14, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Thomas Jefferson: Author of America by Christopher Hitchens
Noted journalist, television commentator, critic, and "partially recovered Marxist" Christopher Hitchens used wit, charm, and, occasionally, scorn to make his case for Jefferson as the key figure among the Founders in shaping America's political ideals (from Sep. 8, 2005).
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 Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello
Author, professor, and former fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Andrew Burstein gave an overview of his recent book, which examines Jefferson's interest in health and medicine and the influence it may have had on him (from Aug. 2, 2005).
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The American Home Nursery Around 1800
Monticello's Director of Gardens and Grounds Peter Hatch discusses the central role home nurseries played at some of the nation's earlier gardens and how they often reveal the human and humorous sides of the nation's gardening pioneers (from Aug. 27, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Address to New Citizens on July 4th, 2005
World-renowned architect I.M. Pei speaks about his admiration for Thomas Jefferson and his own experiences immigrating to the United States from China before an audience that includes 75 applicants for citizenship (from July 4, 2005). Watch the video » |
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 Jefferson and Religion
Was Jefferson an atheist? A deist? An Episcopalian? A Unitarian? In an entertaining and informative talk, William and Mary Professor of Religion David Holmes answers these questions while relating catchy rhymes, biting quotes, and a burning at the stake (from June 21, 2005). Watch the video » |
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 Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson
Mordechai Feingold, Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology, talks about the legacy of Newton, whom Jefferson considered to be one of the "three greatest men the world has every produced." (from May 24, 2005). Watch the video » |
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 Jefferson and the Barbary War
University of Virginia professor James R. Sofka gives an informal talk on The Jeffersonian Idea of National Security using the Barbary conflict as a case study. (from July 13, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Address to New Citizens on July 4th, 2004
Director of the recently opened National Museum of the American Indian, W. Richard West speaks before America's newest citizens on the nation's 228th anniversary. (from July 4, 2004). Watch the video » |
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 Thomas
Jefferson: Writing a Short Biography
Richard B. Bernstein, noted legal historian and author of a new
short biography of Thomas Jefferson, talks about the current state
of Jefferson's legacy and the evolution of his own interest in the
early history of the American Republic (from May 25, 2004). Watch the video »
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 John
Paul Jones and Thomas Jefferson
Evan Thomas, author and editor at Newseek magazine, provides
a fresh look at John Paul Jones (from July 18, 2003). Watch the video »
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 Re-examining
the Journals from the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Notre Dame University professor Thomas P. Slaughter on what Lewis
and Clark and the other journal authors were up to in the creation
of their million-and-a-half-word record of their renowned journey
(from May 13, 2003). Watch the video » |
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A Conversation with Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel on important issues of the day in the historical setting
of Monticello's West Lawn (from July 17, 2002). Watch the video » |
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Jefferson Library Dedication
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough gives the keynote
speech at the dedication of the new Jefferson Library (from on April
13, 2002). Watch the video »
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 Thomas
Jefferson and Sheep
Monticello's Shannon Senior Research Historian Cinder Stanton on
Jefferson's attempts to raise sheep and create a domestic wool industry
(from June 29, 2000). Watch the video » |
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 Gossip,
Dueling, and Political Culture
Yale professor Joanne B. Freeman on the tools politicians used in
the era before recognized political parties (from July 22, 1999).
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