Letters to the editor (11/22/09) Nov 22, 2009
The notion that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by a young slave woman named Sally Hemings is one of the cruelest lies in American history ... In November 1998 (during the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal) the Jefferson-Hemings smear resurfaced when an article appeared in the British journal Nature entitled "Jefferson Fathered Slave's Last Child." Despite the sensational headline, the DNA evidence cited in the article provided no conclusive proof that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by Sally... (Anchorage Daily News)
Why truthfulness really does matter Oct 22, 2009
dannygs wrote on Oct 21, 2009 8:32 AM:nice little statement, but I thought Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemings was proven with DNA evidence. please look into that and correct the "alleged" - after all, if the 3rd POTUS was sleeping with his slave, we have a right to know. (Coos Bay-North Bend The World, OR)
Will Buckley and Pancho Villa Oct 20, 2009
They may be more likely to hear about raunchy Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings than about his sage warning that a government possessing the power to do something for its citizens possesses the power to do something to them. This maxim wasn t deprecated when our father was a child, and experience confirmed it. (The American Conservative)
Merrill Peterson, 88; wrote on role of Jefferson, Lincoln Oct 2, 2009
In later years, however, Dr. Peterson stepped away from the study of Jefferson, particularly as other scholars began to concentrate on Jefferson s relationship with his slave Sally Hemings. He did not believe in any sexual connection between Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Paul Gaston, a longtime colleague, said in an interview Wednesday. (Boston Globe)
Debunking the Myths of the Founding Fathers Aug 4, 2009
Some myths were born from elements of truth, or evidence sharply pointing toward a popular conclusion, such as Thomas Jefferson s connection to slave Sally Hemings. Others, like Alexander Hamilton s gay love story, appear to be concocted from whole cloth. (Human Events Online)
Judi Ann Mason, 54; playwright who wrote for television, films Jul 17, 2009
Andrews, whose credits include writing the award-winning 2000 CBS miniseries Sally Hemings: An American Scandal, is among them. She recalled auditioning as an actress for the daytime drama Generations in the late 80s and encountering Ms. Mason, whom she had met in the 70s. (Boston Globe)
Died on the Fourth of July Jul 4, 2009
For instance, he concedes that the preponderance of evidence suggests that Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings, and his depiction of life at Monticello is neither Arcadian nor nave. I set out to prove Jefferson didn t do it, Crawford tells me of the conjugations with Sally Hemings, just to be ornery or at least to challenge what has become the conventional wisdom on the matter. (The American Conservative)
Revolutionary Characters Jul 4, 2009
Slavery and Sally Hemings are just the beginning: The Jefferson that emerges out of much recent scholarship resembles the America many critics have visualized in the past four decades: self-righteous, guilt-ridden, racist, doctrinaire, and filled with liberal pieties that under stress are easily sacrificed. Attempts to reclaim Jefferson in the 70s and 80s tried to transform him into things he was not: a communitarian, a classical republican. (The American Conservative)
HANKY-SKANKY POLS RISING TO OCCASIO... Jun 28, 2009
Thomas Jefferson had Sally Hemings, a slave. Even George Washington's historians acknowledge Martha alone didn't do it for him. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Famous Missourians coming to Bonne Terre Jun 17, 2009
Her current portrayals include Josephine Baker, an African American international star, civil rights activist and World War II heroine; Mary Elizabeth Bowser, a Union spy in the Confederate White House; Sally Hemings, who sacrificed her freedom from slavery for the love of President Thomas Jefferson; Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad conductor, army scout, and suffragist; Madame C.J. Walker, an entrepreneur, millionaire and philanthropist; and Josephine Wilson Bruce, the first African... (Park Hills Daily Journal, MO)
The Casualties of Democracy May 12, 2009
But with the long-denied and now all-but-proved allegations of Thomas Jeffersons affair with his slave Sally Hemings, they sceptically concede that genealogically, there is still a reason to question Hardings mixed-race ancestry denials. But could writers and journalists be trusted in every word. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Updated Monticello center introduces visitors to Jefferson May 10, 2009
The exhibits also reflect an updating of the study of history itself, now more fully including the stories of others in the community, including the more than 100 slaves that helped build Monticello and worked on the plantation, and mentioning that Jefferson may have fathered children with slave Sally Hemings. The new presentations are the first opportunity to include such detailed information in exhibits, explaining the lives and roles of slaves and free blacks on Jefferson's plantation and... (Florida Today)
If Only Thomas Jefferson Could See the Whiz-Bang New Exhibits at Monticello Apr 14, 2009
One of them, Sally Hemings, may have been the mother of some his children. The foundations of slave cabins are clearly marked in the garden, and the remains of slave pottery and tools, recent archeological finds, are prominently displayed. (Slate)
The other Jefferson monument Apr 12, 2009
Moreover, it says that many historians (including those at Monticello) believe that years after the death of his wife, Jefferson "was the father of the children of the slave Sally Hemings." ... Upstairs, in the main exhibit hall, a visitor can examine a detailed lineage of the Hemings slave family, including Sally, whose role in Jefferson's life has received new attention as a result of this year's National Book Award-winning volume by Annette Gordon-Reed, "The Hemingses of Monticello: An... (Boston Globe)
New museum reflects character of nation's 3d president Apr 1, 2009
Recent acceptance of accounts of Jefferson's fathering of his slave Sally Hemings' children - four of whom survived infancy - adds another window on his world; they and their many relatives, already in-bred with his late wife's family and those of other area planters, lived in cabins on Mulberry Row, the slave's quarters along the edge of the mountain. Jefferson's dream of reordering his environment, of putting everyone in their proper place - even while acting seemingly out of kindness,... (Boston Globe)
Presidents' Day: Mattress sales and presidential rankings Feb 22, 2009
There also is Sally Hemings, of course, and the recent emphasis on the Machiavellian tendencies in Jefferson's political life. The dark side of Jefferson has tended recently to eclipse such minor achievements as the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty and the University of Virginia. (Bismarck Tribune, ND)
