New exhibit explores Jefferson’s slave ownership

Shannon Lanier points to the pictures on the cover of the book Jefferson's Children, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, at a new exhibit: “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty”. Lanier is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson's slave Sally Hemings. Photo by The Associated Press.

BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press

Thursday, January 26, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal" to declare U.S. independence from Britain, yet he was also a lifelong slave owner who freed only nine of his more than 600 slaves during his lifetime.

Photo by The Associated Press

This June 9, 2008 image provided by the Monticello Foundation shows the home of Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Va. Several new projects launching this winter will shed light on the slaves who lived and worked at Monticello.

That contradiction between ideals and reality is at the center of a new exhibit opening Friday as the Smithsonian Institution continues developing a national black history museum. It offers a look at Jefferson's Monticello plantation in Virginia through the lives of six slave families and artifacts unearthed from where they lived.

The exhibit, "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty," was developed with Monticello and will be on view at the National Museum of American History through mid-October. It includes a look at the family of Sally Hemings, a slave. Most historians now believe she had an intimate relationship with the third president and that he fathered her children.

Museum Director Lonnie Bunch said his staff can test ideas by building exhibits before the National Museum of African American History and Culture is finished.

It will be the first museum added to the National Mall since 2004. A groundbreaking is planned for Feb. 22, and it's scheduled to open in 2015 near the Washington Monument.

Bunch said museum officials want to see how the public responds to subjects, such as slavery, as they try to present history for the widest possible audience.

Slavery, he said, is still the "last great unmentionable" in public discourse but central in shaping American history.

"This is a story we know we have to tell, and this is a story we know is going to be difficult and going to be challenging, but this new museum has to tell the story," he told The Associated Press. "In many ways, the Smithsonian is the great legitimizer, so if we can wrestle with slavery and Jefferson, other people can."

A portion of the exhibit devoted to the Hemings-Jefferson story marks the first time the subject has been presented on the National Mall.

Curators stopped short of making a definitive statement in the exhibit about the relationship, but they wrote that it was likely an intimate one, based on documentary and genetic evidence.

"On the one hand it's not a breakthrough for scholars. We've known this for a long time," Bunch said. "I think that the public is still trying to understand it."

Many artifacts, including tools and kitchen ceramics, are on public view for the first time, exploring the work and lives of slave families who lived on Jefferson's plantation. Among the pieces on display is a hand-crafted chair built by John Hemings, Sally Hemings' brother, to replicate a set of French chairs at Monticello.

While such items may have been seen by 450,000 people a year at Monticello, they are accessible to millions of visitors at the Smithsonian, curators said.

In the exhibit, oral histories from descendants of Jefferson's slaves reveal stories passed down through families for generations, along with detailed records kept by Jefferson.

For example, Jefferson bought George and Ursula Granger and their sons as slaves in 1773, and Ursula became a "favorite housewoman" of his wife. Jefferson eventually made George Granger the overseer of Monticello, the only slave to rise to that position and receive an annual wage.

Later, the first baby born in the White House was the son of Wormley and Ursula Hughes, who belonged to Jefferson.

"We can begin to understand slavery, not as an abstraction but through the stories of individuals and families who were surviving within a system that denied their humanity," said Leslie Green Bowman, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation that runs Monticello.

A related website will showcase the "Getting Word" oral history project.

Curators also explore the importance of slavery in early U.S. history and Jefferson's views on enslavement, which he called an "abominable crime."

The small laptop portable desk he used to draft the Declaration of Independence is placed front and center in the exhibit, borrowed from the Smithsonian's permanent presidential gallery.

Shannon Lanier, 32, of New York City, a ninth generation descendant of Jefferson and Hemings through their son Madison Hemings, said he has known about his ancestors for years from stories told by his mother and grandmother.

Having such an exhibit at the Smithsonian is a breakthrough, he said, because it's past time for more people to know about Jefferson's history with slavery.

"This is a great catalyst for conversation," he said, standing near a bronze statue of Jefferson. "It's really hard for people to understand slavery and Thomas Jefferson. He was a president, why couldn't he set them free?"

"This helps enlighten people about ... how complex it was."

Bill Webb of New York City learned only in 2006 that his ancestor Brown Colbert was a slave connected to Monticello as the grandson of Elizabeth Hemings, Sally Hemings' mother — a discovery he called "mind blowing."

"On any research that you do, I think it's exciting. But with slavery, it's certainly disturbing sometimes," he said. "But it's fact. It's good to know from whence one comes."

As for Jefferson, Webb said he was "a product of his time."

Until the mid-1980s, Monticello avoided the difficult topic of slavery. But decades of research and archaeology at the site, along with an oral history project begun in 1993 with descendants of slaves, helped piece together a fuller picture of slave life, said Monticello Curator Elizabeth Chew.

"Twenty years ago, we could not have done this show," she said.

Smithsonian Curator Rex Ellis said understanding Jefferson's place in history requires a deeper understanding of his entanglement with 607 enslaved men, women and children.

"We have to give voice to them," Ellis said. "They represent the community who brought him to his father on a pillow when he was born to those who adjusted the pillow under his head when he died."

National Museum of African American History and Culture: http://nmaahc.si.edu/

Monticello: http://www.monticello.org/

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wow 1 year, 4 months ago

This is certainly a contradiction of human/American values, hypocracy at it's greatest level and also exactly what I've pointed out in the past. But before I continue....I hope the comments which follow are provided in a effort for us all to learn and certainly to improve the situation which we all have inherited. Will the ghost's haunt or help us?

Jefferson wasn't the only founding father who spoke this "freedom from tyranny" stuff, yet at the same time denying people basic freedoms. I've often heard it said that this occurred because of the times and that the wording of the United States Constitution indicated that these leaders knew freedom for all was inevitable; however they were unsure how to make it happen sooner. Well perhaps one of the ways to make it happen sooner than centuries after these racial horrors destroyed so many innocent lives was simply to lead by example. All Mr. Jefferson, Adams, Washington and other's simply had to do was free their slaves and demand that the other slave owners do the same. We all know that didn't happen and as of yet there hasn't been an acceptable answer given as to why. As for the terrible stuff that followed...there is certainly no justifiable reason for the horrors caused by years of Jim Crow, Black Codes, segregation and pure racial hate. These American leaders and the American citizens had more than enough opportunity to right this wrong. Yet the majority choose to do nothing. Again there is no rational answer for that to have occurred.

So here we are in 2012 and Shannon Lanier ponders with the question his ancestors pondered. Why was this behavior allowed for so long? Regretfully Shannon, like his ancestors may never hear a reasonable answer. Regretfully back in the day Shannon's ancestors had to deal with views like that of a well known American politician of that time, who proudly scoffed that "there was no right a black person had that a white person had to respect"...even worse the United States Supreme Court agreed with that view. Now today, even though the supreme Court has been partially corrected and the majority of American's have come to their senses...still Shannon like his ancestors may still never find the answers he seeks, because there are folks who cannot enagage in meaningful conversation about the history of this nation. Also there is that modern day group of people who feel this young man and many others like him should just get over what occurred. There is also a troubling number of Americans who want things returned to the pre segragation era.

I'm with Shannon...I'd like an answer...once that answer is brought to light, then we may be able to prevent it from occurring again and take huge step to promoting racial harmony.

Shannon...get your learn on and keep pushing for the truth.

NT...you've been providing some very good dicussion opportunities of late.... Good job.

wow 1 year, 4 months ago

Some people do bad things....yeah....tell that to the Georgia folks who are trying to keep Obama from running for President in the Peach state. Something to do with him not providing a valid birth certifcate. I believe at least one of the persons of influence who are "part of get the rid of the Black President movement" is a sitting Judge. A new form of Poll Tax, Voter registartion requirement...what?

As for if John Adams owned slaves...well since I wasn't there I can't be 100% sure of the true answer. But certainly like most rich people of the times...I would not be surprised if he were a slave owner. Fact is there were many of the colonial leaders who did own slaves...some of which I didn't name. Nonetheless I'm not concerned with naming every slave owner, nor am I really keying in on the issue of slavery. For I don't think any rational person can/will defend such an evil. Nor do I believe the issue is as simple as "people do bad things". I think it's much more than that....I say that because, it was OUR AMERICAN LEADERS who were so determined to build a government that championed freedom which allowed the evils to happen then and to cary on for centuries afterward. Are you saying those leaders were bad people. If that's the case why are they celebrated today as heroe's? If it was as simple as you state...would not a simple apology from a person of influence be warranted? Graceful your answer creates contradictions and lead to more unanswered questions.

Man, all of that and we have yet to get to what I feel is the more important issue. THE POST SLAVERY era......if all you can say about the slavery issue is "some people do bad things"...then sir/mam, Mr. Shannon myself and other's are still looking for an acceptable answer. Also I'm interested to learn what your reasoning will be for what AMERICAN LEADERS allowed to follow for centuries after slavery was over.

Graceful...good conversation so far....and honestly speaking I'm not trying to argue......but I am trying to generate open dialouge on the very sensitive issue of the undiscussed hypocracy of America and Americans.

New exhibit explores Jefferson’s slave ownership

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