Tom,
You and Kathleen seem to have read or assumed something in one of my posts
that was not intended. I said I was not a researcher - I did NOT say I
didn't do research. Most of the folks who've been on this list awhile have
seen me in research mode for my stories, if they involve Virginians, or
Famous Americans, if they are Virginians. Books I get online and searches I
can do online are how I research these days since I can no longer get to a
decent library. So, I really do not need to be schooled in "research". As I
have said before, if you want to see how I teach or "do research" check out
my work on my website and stop making assumptions that are both in error and
most irritating.
I really do not see the oral histories of the Heming's family as "opinion"
or "guesswork". I see it as another story in history to be examined in the
same way we examine all other stories in history - written or spoken. No
more and no less.
The DNA evidence that one of Hemings children was fathered by a Jefferson
male moves us closer to establishing the fact that those oral histories are
true. And, if Thomas was not the father, but some other male of the
Jefferson line, then we have to question the morality of a man who gives his
maid to his relatives and visitors. In my mind, Thomas is more honorable to
have fathered the children himself.
Anne
Anne Pemberton
[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Gilmore" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 9:27 PM
Subject: Re: oral history
> Sorry, Anne, but your admittance that you do not do your own research
> gave
> you away. Any teacher worth beans should have learned how to search for
> the
> truth before presenting things as facts to students. If you are getting
> all
> your "facts" from others without doing meaningful research seeking
> verification, that's a sign of lazy-brain, and how you can hope to
> instill
> an eagerness and curiosity in student to learn more is beyond logic. You
> probably won't know what I'm talking about, but trained researchers will.
>
> Speaking of logic: did you take a good look at that sentence you wrote re.
> TJ's possible parenthood? "... but an absence of evidence that he did NOT
> father those children, coupled with the DNA evidence that A Jefferson
> did..." etc. Come on, girl, get real. Start with examining the DNA
> evidence available so far... no, wait. Start with becoming more familiar
> with what DNA will and will not prove.
>
> In case you are feeling picked on, know that while I do suspect TJ OR his
> brother may have fathered some of the Hemings children, to date, there is
> absolutely no proof that it's true. No opinions or guesswork is going to
> take the place of solid evidence, and so far there just isn't any.
> What's
> called for are open minds by logical researchers who know good evidence
> when
> and if they see it.
>
> --Tom Gilmore
>
> On Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 2:18 PM, Anne Pemberton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Kathleen,
>>
>> Your post is an example of why such heated arguments prevail on the list.
>> It is obvious that I did not remember what you wrote between the time I
>> read
>> it and when the story came to mind. No one is saying that an absence of
>> DNA
>> evidence proves paternity, but an absence of evidence that he did NOT
>> father
>> those children, coupled with the DNA evidence that A Jefferson did - at
>> least one - gives credence to the oral history that Thomas was the father
>> of
>> some or all of Sally's children. All of them were too light to have been
>> fathered by a black man, that is why some of them "escaped" and blended
>> into
>> the white populations in DC and Baltimore (or wherever the did end up).
>>
>> The last part of Kathleen's note was extremely offensive. If she really
>> wants to find out what kind of teacher I was/am, she can go to the
>> website
>> that is listed on the last line of my signature file and collect hundreds
>> of
>> pages of "evidence" that are more telling than her smarmy comment.
>>
>> Anne
>>
>>
>>
>> Anne Pemberton
>> [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.erols.com/apembert
>> http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathleen Much"
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 3:38 PM
>> Subject: Re: oral history
>>
>>
>> ----
>>> Obviously Anne did not understand what I wrote.
>>>
>> It is even sillier to say that
>>
>>> an absence of buttons could verify the claim. [Taking us back to
>>> Hemings/Jefferson, where an absence of DNA evidence is being used to
>>> make
>>> a
>>> claim that Thomas Jefferson fathered any or all of Sally Hemings's
>>> children.]
>>>
>>> If Anne's leaps to false conclusions are evidence of her teaching
>>> skills,
>>> I
>>> am glad my children are past an age when they might have been subjected
>>> to
>>> her ministrations. I hope that she merely read too hastily and drew
>>> faulty
>>> conclusions.
>>>
>>> Kathleen Much
>>> The Book Doctor
>>>
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>>
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>
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