Music was an important part of life for enslaved people at Monticello, and particular individuals, like Eston Hemings, within this society were noted for their artistic talents. For many enslaved people at plantations throughout the United States, music making was a way to strengthen family and...
In Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime, the holidays at Monticello were a time for family gatherings, visiting friends, settling accounts and planning for the new year. For Monticello’s enslaved community, the holiday season was a time for reunion and a possible respite from labor on the Plantation.
In spite of having little of their own time, enslaved African-American families at Monticello cultivated a rich horticultural tradition. Through the maintenance of their own garden plots, the enslaved community seized a rare moment of independence to create something for themselves in a world that...
Visitors to Monticello recorded memories of late afternoon dinners at Monticello “served in half Virginian, half French style in good taste and abundance,” but the records rarely mention the enslaved cooks and their families who made these meals possible.
Visitors to Monticello and the University of Virginia (UVA) can easily see their connections to Thomas Jefferson, the visionary architect of both these U.N. World Heritage sites. The recent dedication of the Memorial to Enslaved Workers at UVA reveals Monticello’s enslaved community and the...
In 1900, Coralie Franklin Cook was the only African-American woman who was asked to speak at Susan B. Anthony’s 80th birthday celebration. She had spent her life breaking barriers and fighting for the rights of women and women of color. Her disappointment in the movement to which she had devoted so...
Lucian Truscott and Shannon Lanier pose in the Jefferson family cemetery (not part of Monticello). The family cemetery is owned by the descendants of Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. In recognition of Presidents' Day and Black History Month, CBS This Morning aired a...
On December 28, 1993, Monticello Getting Word historians Lucia "Cinder" Stanton, Dianne Swann-Wright, and Beverly Gray traveled to Chillicothe, Ohio to interview five members of the Pettiford family—three of whom were descendants of Madison Hemings. Since then, Getting Word staff have traveled more...
