For those of you who may be interested in hearing Professor Gordon-Reed
discuss her latest book on the Hemings family but are unable to travel
to the Library of Congress, please be advised that she is scheduled to
speak at the Library of Virginia in Richmond on Saturday, September 27
at 2:00 p.m.

- Tameka Hobbs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tameka B. Hobbs
Program & Education Coordinator
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
804.371.2126 - office
804.692.3814 - fax 
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jurretta J. Heckscher
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-HIST] Lecture on Hemings Family

Library of Congress
August 12, 2008

Press contact:  Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639, [log in to unmask]
Public contact:  Robert Saladini (202) 707-2692, [log in to unmask]


"The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family"
TO BE DISCUSSED BY AUTHOR AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, SEPT. 23


            The relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
has
been a subject of speculation for centuries and even more so in the past
decade, when DNA testing increased evidence of a sexual liaison.

            Author Annette Gordon-Reed, who received attention in 1997
for a
book that carefully evaluated claims and counter-claims about the
Jefferson-Hemings relationship, has written a new book about Sally
Hemings -
a slave in the Founding Father's household - and her family.

            Gordon-Reed will discuss "The Hemingses of Monticello: An
American Family" at the Library of Congress at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept.
23,
in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E.,
Washington,
D.C.  The book will be on sale and available for signing.

            The lecture, sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge Center
and
the Manuscript Division, is free and open to the public; tickets and
reservations are not required.

            Gordon-Reed's book chronicles the Hemings family from the
mid-1700s, when an English sea captain fathered a child by an enslaved
woman
living near Williamsburg, Va., to the early 19th-century story of Sally
Hemings, who may have borne several children by Jefferson.

            John Hope Franklin, the author of "From Slavery to Freedom"
and
the winner of the 2006 Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study
of
humanity, said "This is not only a riveting history of a slave family on
a
grand scale, it is also a rarely-seen portrait of the family in the Big
House, with a remarkable account of the relationship of white and black
families.  This work catapults Gordon-Reed into the very first rank of
historians of slavery."

            Gordon-Reed is a professor of law at New York Law School.
Her
1997 book was titled "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American
Controversy."  She also co-authored "Vernon Can Read!: a Memoir" (2001)
with
Vernon Jordan, longtime civil rights leader and presidential confidante.
In
Gordon-Reed's 2002 book "Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American
History," she edits 12 original essays that illustrate how race often
determined the outcome of trials and how trials that confront issues of
racism provide a unique lens on American cultural history.

            Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library
of
Congress established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the
world's
best thinkers to stimulate and energize one another, to distill wisdom
from
the Library's rich resources and to interact with policymakers in
Washington.  For further information on the Kluge Center, visit
www.loc.gov/kluge/.

            The Library's Manuscript Division holds more than 61 million
items, including the papers of 23 U.S. presidents, from George
Washington to
Calvin Coolidge.  For more information about the collections and
holdings of
the Manuscript Division, visit www.loc.gov/rr/mss/.


# # #
PR08-136
8/12/08
ISSN: 0731-3527

 


 

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