A New Home for Monticello's Collections and Researchers

The Daniel P. Jordan Archaeology, Research, and Collections Complex (ARC Complex) is being built to house the people and materials at the heart of Monticello's ongoing research—and to make that work more accessible than ever before.

Designed in partnership with BRW Architects, the ARC Complex brings together dedicated workspaces, state-of-the-art storage, and collaborative research environments on the larger Kenwood campus. The goal is a space that is both functional and welcoming, built to serve the Foundation's growing collections for the next twenty-five years.

What the ARC Complex Will Hold

At the center of the ARC Complex is a collections warehouse of over 3,500 square feet, outfitted with specially selected high-density storage systems. The warehouse will store Monticello’s archaeological and architectural artifacts, as well as materials from the Jefferson Library and the Getting Word African American Oral History Department.

The ARC Complex is designed to deepen collaboration and open the collections to more scholars and members of the public. Three pavilions will front the main storage barn, each serving a distinct purpose: a multipurpose room for public and educational programming, a dedicated lab for the Monticello archaeology team, and a lab for the staff of the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS). Private offices and support spaces round out the facility.

Digital Renderings of the Daniel P. Jordan Archaeology, Research, and Collections Complex

Digital rendering of the front of the new ARC Complex, courtesy BRW Architects

Digital rendering of the main entrance of the ARC Complex

Digital rendering of the meeting and teaching space in the ARC Complex

Digital rendering of an aerial view of the ARC Complex

Digital rendering of the ARC Complex, top left, within the larger Kenwood campus

Honoring the Legacy of Daniel P. Jordan

The ARC is named after and dedicated to former Monticello President Daniel P. Jordan. During his leadership from 1985 - 2008, Jordan made education and research the twin pillars of his presidency, establishing new academic departments in research, archaeology, restoration, historic plants, and publications, and founding the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies.

A historian and award-winning teacher by training, Jordan brought that same commitment to public audiences, launching the Getting Word African American Oral History Project, Plantation Community Tours, and the landmark 1993 exhibition "The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello." His insistence that Monticello tell "the most honest story we can about Jefferson and slavery and race and the plantation" through a foundation of serious scholarship reshaped not only this institution but impacted historic sites across the country.