Episodes

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"2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music." New York Times 21 April 2009: A23.

Beck, Glenn. David Barton Defends His Recalled Book Thomas Jefferson Lies w/ Glenn Beck in GBTV Answering Critics. Show aired August 16, 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SmYvKUKOv0

Beck interviews Barton, author of Jefferson Lies, and airs accusations against him by even his "friends" who say he is damaging the Founding Fathers by his work. The discussion of Jefferson and slavery begins about minute 40.

Block, Sharon. Review of Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Clarence Walker. Journal of Southern History 76.3 (2010): 708-10.

"This book could only have been successfully written by an expert in the field such as Walker. His wide-ranging compilation -- beyond regional and chronological boundaries -- of the historical and theoretical underpinnings touched on by the Jefferson-Hemings relationship results in a creative tour of race, memory, and mythmaking" (708).

Bordewich, Fergus M. "American Roots." Washington Post 14 September 2008: BW3.

Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon Reed.

Bush, Vanessa. Review of Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Clarence Walker. Booklist 105.11 (2009): 20.

Cogliano, Frank. Review of Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Clarence Walker. Journal of the Early Republic 30.4 (2010).

Cogliano calls Mongrel Nation "an important book that goes to the heart of historical study and it deserves wide readership." Mongrel Nation "raises and addresses some very large issues: the intersection of race, sexuality, and national identity."

Cohen, Patricia. "Seeing Past the Slave to Study the Person." New York Times 20 September 2008: B7.

Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon Reed.

Countryman, Edward. Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon Reed. William and Mary Quarterly 66.2 (2009): 434-37.

Countryman praises AGR for not only her compelling argument but also for the "powerful and rich picture" she presents: by "putting her sources together, taking all of her characters seriously, [she is] constructing the richest, most explanatory account of them that the evidence permits her to make" (437). By the decision to not make Jefferson the main subject of her study, AGR is able to construct a very convincing picture of the Hemings family and American slavery. But the perspective on Jefferson is noteworthy: "Gordon-Reed presents a fully human Jefferson who was fully of his time. Her account of him convinces me" (437).

Farhi, Paul. “Books That Explore Race In U.S. Lead Arts Pulitzers.” 29 April 2009: C1.

Gordon-Reed won a Pulitzer.

Foner, Eric. "The Master and the Mistress." New York Times Book Review 5 October 2008: 16.

Foner describes AGR's book The Hemingses of Monticello as being both "engrossing and suggestive" but also repetitive and perhaps too long. Foner compares Jefferson to a painting entitled "Virginian Luxuries" that depicts a slave owner whipping a black male while also caressing a black female. Although Foner acknowledges Jefferson's contradictory behavior, he does criticize AGR for occasionally taking some ideas too far and making some "outrageous claims." Overall, the review goes through a brief history of the affair and mentions the main points AGR discusses in her study. Although many historians and researchers come up empty and conclude that questions are sometime unanswerable, Foner points out that AGR "refuses to acknowledge this possibility."

Ford, Vernon. Review of Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Clarence Walker. Booklist 105.21 (2009): 23-24.

Glover, Lorri. Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon Reed. American Historical Review 115.1 (2010): 220.

Glover praises AGR for her "extraordinary mastery of eighteenth-century sources and scholarly writing about that era." Her ability to show the lives of slaves in a light that does not revolve directly around their white masters is what sets this book apart from the rest. Glover also acknowledges AGR's ability to intertwine a moral story with valid facts, to give the reader a "deeply entrenched narrative built around the dignity and morality of the sage of Monticello."

Gutzman, Kevin R. C. "When Tom Met Sally." Taki's Magazine 29 June 2009.

http://takimag.com/article/when_tom_met_sally/print#axzz2ZEAKXxeX

Hodes, Martha. "Sally Hemings, Founding Mother." Reviews in American History 38.3 (2010): 437-42.

Although Hodes critiques Walker [in Mongrel Nation] for his writing style (calling it more of a dinner conversation than a book), she does acknowledge the difficult issues that he challenges: "The problem of Sally Hemings in American history comes intertwined with the problems of slavery and freedom; race and racism; and race, sex, and love. Walker takes up all of these challenges, ultimately offering a revised story of national origins: the United States, he contends, was a 'mixed race' nation from the start" (437). Hodes spends the majority of the review outlining the major points in the book and concludes this summary by admitting that she felt there were many times throughout that she wished he would have "carried his reflections further on points both large and small" (440).

Hoffman, M. "$500,000 Genius Awards Inspire MacArthur Fellows." Jet 25 October 2010.

Gordon-Reed received a prestigious fellowship.

Hoffman, M. "Pulitzer Prizes Honor Stories of Racial History." Jet 11 May 2009.

Gordon-Reed received a Pulitzer Prize.

Jefferson, Thomas. Thomas Jefferson and his unknown brother Randolph. Twenty-eight letters exchanged between Thomas and Randolph Jefferson . . . during the years 1807 to 1815. Ed. Bernard Mayo. Charlottesville: U of Virginia, 1942.

This book “comprises all the letters known to have been exchanged between the two men during the years 1807 to 1815, and for these years gives a fairly complete picture of the relations which existed between Thomas and his brother and neighbor, whose plantation of Snowden was but twenty miles from Monticello” (7). Mayo’s introduction really highlights how much Thomas Jefferson watched out for his brother, even after he came of age. Although Jefferson struggled with debt himself, it would appear that he took on debts of Randolph as well. Mayo describes the letters to suggest this “because they reveal Thomas Jefferson’s affection, patient kindness, and desire to help a brother strikingly his inferior” (7). There is no mention of Sally or any of the Hemings in these letters. Randolph Jefferson has been recently strongly suggested as the father of Hemings’s children (the DNA results would not exclude him), so Mayo's study is pertinent to this episode.

Kerrison, Catherine. Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 117.1 (2009): 61.

Kerrison praises AGR for her “rich and eminently readable book.” What Kerrison seems to find the most interesting is how well the study “illuminates the depth of human experience that lies behind Jefferson’s cryptic notations.” Considering how private Jefferson was, AGR is really able to give not only him but also the Hemingses a voice. She is also able to provide the reader with possible answers, while also posing more questions.

Kerrison, Catherine. "Sally Hemings." A Companion to Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Francis D. Cogliano. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 284-300.

Larson, John Lauritz. Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed. Journal of the Early Republic 29.4 (2009): 730-32.

AGR’s book is an “epic tale capturing (on the head of a pin, as it were) the enormous tragedy that was American slavery, the staggering complexity of the human heart, the sometimes brutal intersections in our lives of race and sex and power, the string of unrequited longing to be acknowledged that comes with every instance of denial, the lure of fame, the terror of history, the shame of rank transgressions, the risks (and rewards) involved in dredging it all up anew” (730). There’s praise for focusing on the Hemingses instead of Jefferson. If as a reader you hope to draw conclusions from reading AGR’s book, you will be frustrated. AGR’s study will most likely only open the floor to more questions.

Lee, Felicia. “MacArthur Foundation Honors 23 'Geniuses'.” New York Times 28 September 2010: C1.

Lepore, Jill. "President Tom's Cabin: Jefferson, Hemings, and a Disclaimed Lineage." New Yorker 22 September 2008: 86-91.

Although Lepore discusses many of AGR’s major arguments in The Hemingses of Monicello, she does not spend a lot of time necessarily reviewing or expressing her opinion about it. She acknowledges AGR’s belief that historians have ignored the facts: “For Gordon-Reed, a legal scholar, the real scandal wasn’t what happened between Jefferson and Hemings but how willing earlier generations of Jefferson biographers had been to ignore the implications of evidence right in front of them, even documents like Jefferson’s ‘Farm Book,’ but, especially, testimony about things said and done by the Hemingses themselves” (87). Historians like James Parton have formulated their arguments based on the words of white men (for instance, Jefferson’s grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph), instead of Hemings because she was listed on the census as mulatto. In addition to acknowledging AGR’s profound evidence of historians dismissing the facts based on stereotypes, Lepore finishes her review by explaining a detailed DNA crossing of the genes for pure white and pure black skin.

Martinez, Pablo Miguel. "Yours, Sally Hemings." North American Review 294.1 (2009): 30.

Poem: “Tonight your weight, insistent, / bears down on me. Your breath / stale. I stare at the moon, / our commonwealth, a sharp / talon ripping the dark velvet / of this difficult night.”

Mayo, Bernard, ed. Thomas Jefferson and his unknown brother Randolph. Twenty-eight letters exchanged between Thomas and Randolph Jefferson ... during the years 1807 to 1815. Charlottesville: U of Virginia, 1942.

This book “comprises all the letters known to have been exchanged between the two men during the years 1807 to 1815, and for these years gives a fairly complete picture of the relations which existed between Thomas and his brother and neighbor, whose plantation of Snowden was but twenty miles from Monticello” (7). Mayo’s introduction really highlights how much Thomas Jefferson watched out for his brother, even after he came of age. Although Jefferson struggled with debt himself, it would appear that he took on debts of Randolph as well. Mayo describes the letters to suggest this “because they reveal Thomas Jefferson’s affection, patient kindness, and desire to help a brother strikingly his inferior” (7). There is really no mention of Sally or the Hemings in these letters. Randolph Jefferson has been suggested as the father of Hemings’s children; the DNA results would not exclude him.

McDonald, Roderick A. Editor’s Page. Journal of the Early Republic 29.4 (2009): 711-20.

Announces the SHEAR Book Prize for best book to Gordon-Reed.

Morgan, Marie, and Edmund S. Morgan. “Jefferson's Concubine.” New York Review of Books 9 October 2008: 15-17.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2008/oct/09/jeffersons-concubine/

Although AGR’s book focuses mainly on the Hemings family, this review of The Hemingses of Monticello focuses on the character of Jefferson and the concept of slavery. One of AGR’s main intentions in her study is to show what the law of slavery meant and how it directly relates to the actions of both Sally and Jefferson. It is a challenge for historians and people today to really understand what slavery was really like. Jefferson approached slavery in a different way than many other slave owners. Although Jefferson was considered to be possessive and controlling, “it was his nature to be openhanded, and he needed to be surrounded by affable folk happy in their work and conscious of their good fortune.” Jefferson created a system at Monticello that “allowed a degree of autonomy and self-respect, a freedom of movement and occupation, and other aspects of a nonenslaved existence.” This review does not discuss in any detail on the relationship between Jefferson and Sally, focusing on Jefferson and his “slavery system” at Monticello.

O'Brien, Michael. “Where the Slaves Slept.” TLS, the Times Literary Supplement 25 September 2009: 3.

Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed.

Peck, J. "Gordon-Reed, Annette." Current Biography 1 May 2009.

“Peck profiles Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian, lawyer and educator. Gordon-Reed worked for a corporate law firm for three years in the 1980s, then as an attorney with the New York City Board of Correction for four years. She has taught at the New York Law School, in Manhattan, since 1992 and at the Newark NJ campus of Rutgers University since 2006.”

Reid, Calvin. "The Hemingses: First Family of Slavery." Publishers Weekly 28 July 2008: 23.

Reid’s review of The Hemingses of Monticello focuses mostly on what AGR’s book is able to do that previous historians and writers have not. AGR “pointed out the inconsistencies in arguments that debunked the relationship offered evidence in support of it—pointing out that sexual relations between slave masters (even enlightened ones) and female slaves was characteristic of the era” (23). She also goes into a brief background on AGR and has pulled a few quotes of AGR speaking about her intention with the book.

Review of Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Clarence Walker. Library Journal 134.3 (2/15/2009): 117.

Rodda, Chris. "Debunking David Barton's Jefferson Lies." HNN: History News Network. September 21, 2013.

http://hnn.us/article/153302

"The Jefferson Lies being pulled by Thomas Nelson did not make this book go away any more than it made Barton himself go away. Barton is still selling off the thousands of copies he bought back from Thomas Nelson, and, although his claim that the book has been picked up by Simon & Schuster is certainly just another one of his lies, I have no doubt it will be republished by somebody when the supply of Thomas Nelson leftovers runs out. Therefore, I've continued my debunking of Barton's little masterpiece of historical revisionism."

Rothman, Joshua. "An Extraordinary Family and the Burdens of Slavery: A Review Essay." Journal of Southern History 75.2 (2009): 399-414.

Reviews Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello. Very comprehensive and thoughtful.

Scharff, Virginia. The Women Jefferson Loved. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.

Thompson, Bob. “Hemings Saga Wins National Book Prize; Matthiessen Trilogy Takes Fiction Award.” Washington Post 20 November 2008: C1.

"Tom and Sally." Garrison Keillor. April 2, 2011.

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2011/04/06/jefferson_song.php

Song sung on his radio show by Keillor on Jefferson's birthday. Includes audio, lyrics, and fifty (sometimes negative) comments by listeners.

Tucker, Neely. “Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul.” Washington Post 29 May 2009: C1.

Waldstreicher, David. “Beyond Biography, Through Biography, Toward an Integrated History.” Reviews in American History 37.2 (2009): 161-67.

AGR’s The Hemingses of Monticello is an “exquisitely crafted, triumphant history of Sally Hemings and her family.” What she does differently is put Sally and the Hemingses at the center. Her book revolves around their history and acknowledges “Sally’s agency.” This is a “social history of a plantation, a woman’s and family history.” Waldstreicher also acknowledges how well AGR approaches Thomas Jefferson and his Notes on the State of Virginia, as well as the overarching question about the relationship: were they in love? He praises AGR’s ability to make her book about a deep-rooted family history and not about the “hypocritical,” “racist” slander on Jefferson.

Wiencek, Henry. Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012.

Wood, Gordon S. Review of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed. New Republic 22 October 2008: 35.

Wood begins the review by praising AGR for her “degree of detail and intimacy never before achieved” (36). He spends the majority of the review outlining AGR’s main arguments and points throughout her book and acknowledging some of the major problems AGR had: “The major problem that Gordon-Reed faced in dealing with the Jefferson-Sally Hemings relationship is explaining why there is so little record of it” (38). Despite lack of extensive evidence, Wood explains how AGR really uses human nature combined with facts to do “what she refers to as connect the dots” (36). Wood warns, however, that AGR occasionally relies too much on her “assumptions about human nature” and can be perhaps a bit too imaginative. All in all, however, Wood praises AGR for her well-written book.

Yabroff, Jennie. "A Lawyer's New Jefferson Memorial; The next chapter in the Hemings saga." Newsweek 13 October 2008.