Recently unveiled murals of Monticello and Mount Vernon at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art capture the contradiction found in two slave-owning founders of American freedom. Created by artist Kerry Marshall, the murals depict the presidents' homes in vivid color but a closer look reveals the...
In a recent posting on the Newsweek Web site, a descendant of Sally Hemings pens a letter to Thomas Jefferson on the occasion of Barack Obama's inauguration. "The unfulfilled ideals of democracy which I am certain burdened your heart are closer to fulfillment," writes Clara Lee Fisher. "Slavery is...
In a special commemorative edition of Newsweek , history professor and National Book Award winner Annette Gordon-Reed writes about the founder's vision and how it ultimately led to the election of America's first black president.
On the election of the United States' first African-American president Guest commentary Barack Obama's inauguration opens another chapter in the history of race relations in the United States. He is very fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln, and seems his natural heir. Certainly the victory that Lincoln...
Guest commentary ...all men are created equal... —Declaration of Independence, 1776 This phrase has been the idea more than the American reality, but it has inspired generations to help create a more perfect union. JULIAN BOND is Chairman of the NAACP , Professor of History at the University of...
Annette Gordon-Reed discusses a tricky question in the latest American Heritage magazine (vol. 58 no. 5, Fall 2008): "Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? A Historian Tackles One of American History's Thorniest Questions". Don't worry, I won't give away the ending, but Gordon-...
