Biographies and Stories

Jefferson penned immortal words about equality for Americans while denying the humanity of those enslaved on her soil. Explore Jefferson's dual legacy through the online Paradox of Liberty Exhibit.

A century before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama, Sarah M. Fossett successfully integrated the Cincinnati streetcar system. Watch to learn more.

Trotter’s passionate commitment to equality inspired his famous son, William Monroe Trotter.

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.

"Disfranchisement because of sex...handicaps progress." Learn more about this descendant of the Hemings family who became an American suffragette. 

Descended from Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, Roberts was the first Black member of the California State Assembly, a school administrator, and journalist.

Myra Anderson, a member of the Hern family, carries on the tradition of civil rights activism by descendants of Monticello's enslaved community.

Monacan Indians called the western portion of central Virginia, where Monticello is now located, home before English colonists gradually displaced them. Visit this page of the Monacan Indian Nation to learn more about their history and community as it survives today.

Jefferson's long public career during a formative time period for America allowed him to shape the relations between the United States and the scores of Indian nations in the 18th and 19th Centuries and beyond.