Monticello's former Robert H. Smith Director of Restoration, Bob Self, demonstrates the making a mortise and tenon joint, one of the classic techniques that would have been used by joiners James Dinsmore and John Hemmings at Monticello.
Jefferson described the Polygraph as "the finest invention of the present age." Monticello guide Charles Morrill, who's been working on reproductions of various versions of the Polygraphs Jefferson owned, describes the device's importance to Jefferson. Polygraph appears courtesy the University of...
Fear of separation from loved ones was one of the great underlying terrors of slavery. Today we hear the story of a fight that broke out between two enslaved teenagers working in Monticello's Nailery and the dire consequences that followed.
Nance (Nancy) Hemings was an enslaved woman whom Jefferson inherited, gave as a wedding gift and later bought back to help run a weaving operation he established at Monticello.
Several visitors to Monticello remarked on Thomas Jefferson's willingness to tell of his first-hand experiences in shaping the new country. A copy of Asher B. Durand's engraving of John Trumbull's masterpiece "The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, July 4th, 1776" which...
The Entablature on the mantel above the fireplace in Jefferson's bed Chamber matches the room's entablature except for one unusual (and non-canonical) detail: the acorn decorations between the dentils.
Winemaking in Virginia was first attempted by our country’s first settlers over 400 years ago. Today, you can experience the fruits of their labors when you visit one of the almost 300 wineries around the Commonwealth. Video produced by Virginia is for Lovers.
With "a greater eye to convenience," Jefferson employed a number of mechanical gadgets at Monticello, including several different types of dumbwaiters.
On July 3, 1789, just before the storming of the Bastille and two months before he returned to America, Jefferson purchased a number of busts from Houdon. Among these was a terra-cotta patinated plaster of Jefferson's trusted friend, the marquis de Lafayette.
