Although Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, calling slavery “an abominable crime,” he was also a lifelong slaveholder. By the time the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the practice was still believed to be an economic necessity for agricultural endeavors in the South, and nearly a third of the population of the new nation was enslaved.
This exhibition — organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and presented in partnership with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello— provides a unique portrait of each of the individuals in six of Monticello’s slave families: ‘the Hemings, the Gillettes, the Herns, the Fossetts, the Grangers and the Hubbard brothers.’
Through artifacts found during excavations in recent years, together with works of art, various museum objects, along with Jefferson’s meticulous daily records and other documents, visitors will have an extraordinary glimpse of everyday life on the mountain.
Family stories comprise the oral history aspect of life at Jefferson’s Monticello, brought into our time by interviews with more than 170 descendants of the plantation, as the result of Monticello’s Getting Word project, which began in 1993, during the 250th anniversary year of Jefferson’s birth.
In connection with this landmark exhibition, Monticellois also launching the 'website for Getting Word' – a collection of images, and oral histories from seven generations of families descended from Monticello's community of African Americans.
Highlights of the exhibition will include the following objects:
- The portable desk used by Jeffersonto draft the Declaration of Independence
- Ceramic tableware and wine bottles from Shadwell, the tobacco plantation of Jefferson’s parents, later named Monticelloby Jefferson
- The headstone of Priscilla Hemmings (Sally’s sister-in-law and nursemaid to Jefferson’s grandchildren, ca. 1776–1830)
- Bill of sale for a “negro girl slave named Clary,” for 50 pounds
- Cast-iron cooking pot and kitchen utensils from Mulberry Row (the road encircling the Monticellohouse). Jeffersonprovided each family with weekly rations of cornmeal, pork or pickled beef and four salted fish, which had to be supplemented with the food that the enslaved families grew
- Personal items from slaves such as toothbrushes made with bone handles, combs, metal buttons and shoe and clothing buckles and jewelry
Monticello is also restoring the 21 dwellings of both enslaved and free workers along Mulberry Row, which comprised the hub of the plantation. Next month, a new exhibition will open there, entitled “Landscape of Slavery: Mulberry Row at Monticello” featuring mini-exhibitions with computer animations, as well as a website and a smartphone application.
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, was incorporated in 1923 to preserve the home of Thomas Jefferson, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. It has been recognized as a United Nations World Heritage Site, as well as a National Historic Landmark, and offers hospitality to about a half a million visitors each year.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and was established by an Act of Congress in 2003. It is scheduled to be completed within the next 3 years. Meanwhile, it is building its collections and will be hosting programs and producing publications and educational resources. These are available on the museum’s website at: nmaahc.si.edu.
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