Pulitzer prize winner annette gordonreed on sally hemings. It came into a world that midwived it with difficulty and was ill disposed to bless its growth or trust in its possibilities. The hemingses of monticello has been nominated for the 2008 national book award in nonfiction. Although the book presents the most detailed and richly drawn portrait ever written of sarah hemings, better known by her nickname sally, who bore seven children by jefferson over the course of their thirtyeightyear liaison, the hemingses of monticello tells more. The hemingses of monticello by annette gordonreed, a historian and law professor, is a doorstop corrective to early american history, painting a composite portrait of a family that stood at the wellspring of the jefferson, slave sally hemings, their children and kin fascinate and surprise. Harriet hemings may 1801 1870 was born into slavery at monticello, the home of thomas jefferson, third president of the united states, in the first year of his presidency. The hemingses of monticello tells about the lives of multiple generations of the hemings family.
Much anticipated, this book promises to be the most important history. The work of historian annette gordonreed, including her pulitzer prizewinning 2008 book the hemingses of monticello. An intimate life of thomas jeffersonthe three daughters of madame liangsnatch readers digest condensed books, volume 3. The most famous member of the family is, of course, sally hemings, the slave woman who had a 37 year long romantic relationship with thomas jefferson and bore seven of his children who have only recently been acknowledged as jeffersons biological. Most historians believe her father was jefferson, who is now believed to have fathered, with his slave sally hemings, four children who survived to adulthood. Jeffersons monticello finally gives sally hemings her. Heavy handed and overly long, annette gordonreeds pulitzer prize winning, the hemingses of monticello, is a chore to read which is probably why it won the pulitzer prize in the first place. Eston hemings jefferson may 21, 1808 january 3, 1856 was born a slave at monticello, the youngest son of sally hemings, a mixedrace slave. The first eight months of 1802 were mercifully dull for president jefferson. The hemingses of monticello by annette gordonreed the.
Rather than analyze the issue through the lens of jefferson. Annette gordonreed talks about her new book, the hemingses of monticello. It offers a stunning illustration of the tragedy that slavery could wreak. It recounts the history of four generations of the. The man from monticello by thomas fleming abebooks. An american family, has helped move the larger public to consensus on. Much anticipated, this book promises to be the most important history of an american slave family ever written.
An american family, which chronicles the lives of thomas jefferson and the often neglected hemings family, owned by jefferson on his virginia plantation, including his concubine sally. But it also provides a perceptive and critical though always understanding reassessment of jefferson the man. It is a book already garlanded with prizes which will elevate a onceforgotten family the hemingses long marginalised in the story of monticello itself. France and england signed a peace treaty, reopening european and caribbean ports to. The remains of sally hemings small room at monticello. The hemingses of monticello by annette gordon reed abebooks. A place in the woodsthe death committeethe man from monticello. Most historians who have considered the question believe that his father was thomas jefferson, the united states president.
Gordonreed is trained as a lawyer, and the major strength of the hemingses of monticello is her impeccable attention to detail and the massive undertaking the book represents. Reeds book deals with thomas jefferson and the sin of slavery which, inandofitself, is nothing new. The hemingses of monticello is annette gordonreeds riveting history of the hemings family, whose story comes to life in this researched and moving work. An american family by annette gordonreed and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Winner of the 2009 pulitzer prize for historical biography. The hemingses of monticello sets the familys compelling saga against the backdrop of revolutionary america, paris on the eve of its own revolution, 1790s philadelphia, and plantation life at monticello. It recounts the history of four generations of the african american hemings family, from their virginia origins until the 1826 death of thomas jefferson. So begins this epic worknamed a best book of the year. Review of annette gordonreeds the hemingses of monticello. An american family, and answers questions at monticellos jefferson library. Her analyses of the major players of the hemings family, from the matriarch elizabeth, to brothers robert and james, and of course sally, give the reader an unparalleled. Buck, rennie airth and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
This is a very ambitious attempt to reconstruct the world of the hemingses who lived at monticello with thomas jefferson. The hemingses of monticello explores a thorny but important chapter in american history with distinction. Winner of the national book award and the pulitzer prize. Now, author and historian annette gordonreed seeks to fill in these historical gaps in her new book, the hemingses of monticello. She details numerous family members who preceded the better known sally hemings, who had a thirtyeight year relationship with thomas jefferson and bore seven of his children. She won both the pulitzer prize in history and the national book award for the hemingses of monticello. Pulitzer prize winning lawyer and historian annette gordonreed of harvard university discusses her new book the hemingeses of monticello. Gordonreeds book chronicles the hemings family from the mid1700s, when an english sea captain fathered a child by an enslaved woman. Professor gordonreed is the author of three books about thomas jefferson and the hemings family. Like monticello, which was erected, redesigned on an ever grander scale, and rebuilt by fits and starts, the jeffersonian ideal had no easy birth.
As the title suggests, the hemingses of monticello. Gordonreed unearths startling new information about the hemingses, jefferson, and his white family. Gordonreed profiles the lineage of the hemings family. In the hemingses of monticello, a work based on prodigious research in the voluminous jefferson papers and other sources, she traces the experiences of. Historian and legal scholar gordonreed presents this epic work that tells the story of the hemingses, an american slave family and their close blood ties to thomas jefferson. The book succeeds on this score by showing how generations of hemingses labored at monticello. Evidence from a 1998 dna test showed that a descendant of eston matched the jefferson male line, and historical evidence also. In the hemingses of monticello, gordonreed goes much further than her previous book in fully imagining the world in which jefferson interacted with his slaves. An american family brings an entire family out of the historic shadows that have been cast across jeffersons famous virginia home. The captain, whose surname was hemings, and the woman had a daughter. Once you start to look at the details of the whole scene at monticello work, family life, punishment it is richer, said stanton, who wrote a book about slavery on the plantation. The hemingses of monticello by annette gordonreed and. Now she attempts to put any remaining doubts about the hemingsjefferson liaison to rest with the hemingses of monticello.
Only in an earlier aside do we learn that madison hemingss sons fought in the union army during the civil war. As many as 70 members of the hemings family lived in slavery at monticello over five generations. Monticello makes room for story of jefferson and mistress sally hemings. The room where sally hemings lived was next to thomas jeffersons bedroom. Gordonreeds free presentation is the hemings family of monticello. Annette gordonreeds national book awardwinning work of history, the hemings of monticello, reconstructs the complex relationship between thomas jefferson and the. But within six months of his death on july 4, 1826, the contents of monticello and slaves, including hemingses, were auctioned off. Annette gordonreed, winner of a recent macarthur fellowship, discusses her pulitzerprize winning book, the hemingses of monticello. In december 1789, paris was engulfed in the burgeoning.