| Episodes |
Turning Point 1: Fawn Brodie (1974)
But history, long after the passions and polemics of time have been quieted, requires that any barrier be probed, whatever the cost, when persons have been defamed or truth injured, or questions not asked.
(Fawn Brodie)
Let's try to understand how Brodie starts to foster a counter-narrative of the Jefferson-Hemings relationship and how the Jefferson scholarly establishment responds.
1) Fawn Brodie (1974)
Brodie publishes Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, a full-length biography. Read pp. 28-32 of chapter 1, esp. p. 32. And then Brodie's "taboo" article is a condensed version of that part of her book focusing on the relationship with Hemings. The book was a big event, a commercial success: a book-of-the month club selection and an enormous best seller. What's her proof that there was a serious relationship? What's the evidence that makes her "turn" against the official narrative and craft a counter-narrative?
2) Garry Wills (1974)
Eminent scholar Wills rushes into print on the heels of Brodie's publication with this slashing review in the prestigious New York Review of Books, just one of many negative reviews. What arguments does Wills mount against Brodie? What argumentative and persuasive strategies does he use? How would you characterize the tone of his review?
3) Dumas Malone (1974)
Premier Jefferson scholar Malone reprints the Ellen Randolph Coolidge letter in the prestigious New York Times and later, with an expanded introduction, in a scholarly journal, highlighting its key role in exonerating Jefferson. Especially in the expanded introduction, how does Malone frame this key document in order to diminish Brodie's argument?
4) Ebony (1975)
The same African-American oriented Ebony magazine that we saw kicking off the revival of interest in the story in 1954 publishes a fairly straightforward article on the occasion of Brodie's book. But Jefferson is labeled "at once hero and fool [and] framer and victim of his own times," and the relationship is labeled more a "love affair" than a "casual debauchery." How does this representative example of an African American perspective see the turning point?
5) Virginius Dabney (1975)
Dabney (whose first name is literally "Virginia"!) give a widely quoted speech defending Jefferson at William and Mary, Jefferson's alma mater. Read pp. 169-75 and 179-80. Dabney would later write an entire book in rebuttal after Barbara Chase-Riboud pushes him over the edge (1981). What are Dabney's rhetorical attack strategies?
6) Dumas Malone (1976)
Malone again uses the tactic of reprinting a key document and framing it to work for the defense -- this time Madison Hemings' memoir. Once again, how does Malone frame this key document in order to diminish Brodie's argument? Hemings's memoir is the centerpiece of Brodie's "case" -- how does Malone move to discredit it?
7) Clifford Egan (1977)
Looking back after two years, Egan examines use of evidence, proof, and factual detail and finds Brodie's book "seriously flawed." Look closely at one or two of his points -- what's your take on how he argues and whether he's successful or not?
8) John Chester Miller (1977)
Historian Miller wrote the next major scholarly biography of Jefferson and clearly must confront and refute what he calls the "sensational allegation" that Brodie revives with a "gloss of verisimilitude." Miller's section on the scandal ends with one of the most ringing character defenses ever. What's your take on Miller?
