Black History Month at Monticello

Fridays - Sundays at 10:35 a.m.

This 2.5 hour, guided, small-group, interactive tour explores Monticello through the perspectives of enslaved people who labored on the plantation.

February 4 - Join us as we celebrate Black History Month in a discussion with Dr. Kerri Greenidge about the Grimke family and Dr. Greenidge's most recent publication. Part of the Pursuits of Knowledge Conversation Series and the Leonard J. Sadosky Memorial Lecture series.

February 14 - Join Monticello's Curator of Arts and History, Emilie Johnson, as she discusses a revolving top table crafted by enslaved carpenter and joiner John Hemmings.

February 15 - Join Monticello archaeologists at an open house featuring displays of recent discoveries, engaging activities for all ages, and walking tours to last summer's excavations at a home for enslaved field workers.

Daily; Multiple Times

These guided outdoor walking tours focus on the experiences of the enslaved people who lived and labored on the Monticello plantation. Included with all tour tickets.

Join as at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center & Carver Recreation Center for this two-day Black Family History Lab.

Daughter, mother, sister, aunt. Concubine. Negotiator. Liberator. Mystery.

Getting Word preserves the histories of Monticello’s enslaved families and their descendants.

Follow the eventful life of James Hemings, a Paris-trained Chef de Cuisine enslaved by Thomas Jefferson.

Explore stories of life on the plantation and take a deeper look into the daily experiences of those who lived and labored at Monticello.

In this episode of our A Rich Spot of Earth podcast, we focus on the gardens enslaved families tended for themselves to supplement their rations and provide additional income, and discuss how these small garden plots figured prominently in the larger plantation economy.

Who was Benjamin Banneker? Scientist, clock maker, creator of bestselling almanacs, and possibly the first African American to publicly challenge Jefferson on the topics of slavery, race, and equality.

Monticello guide and musicologist Kyle Chattleton looks at the ways enslaved African Americans used music and the foundational role they played in creating a distinctly American musical tradition.

Trailblazer. Newspaper publisher. Civil rights titan. Meet William Monroe Trotter, one of the most influential descendants of Monticello’s enslaved community—and someone who too many people have never heard of,

Beer was a part of most meals at Monticello, possibly served in small silver vessels known today as "Jefferson Cups." But where did the beer come from? What was it like? And who made it?

Monticello guide Kyle Chattleton looks at the close relationship of Monticello's enslaved joiner John Hemmings and his wife, Priscilla, an enslaved domestic servant owned by Jefferson's son-in-law.

George and Ursula Granger moved to Monticello in 1773, as the enslaved workers of Thomas Jefferson. The Grangers of Monticello would go on to include community leaders, skilled tradesmen, cooks, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, farmers, and cider-makers as well as caring spouses, parents, children, and siblings.

Monticello historian Niya Bates describes the Getting Word African American Oral History Project and how it has helped transform interpretive experience at Monticello since its inception in 1993.