Edmund Morgan, Joseph Ellis, and Peter Onuf are three of America's finest
historians. Mr. Barger, IMHO, has let his obsession with proving Jefferson did
not father children by Sally Hemings make him into a poster child of how a
strong predisposition to a certain view can keep a person from being objective.
Peter Henriques, Professor of History, Emeritus, George Mason University and
author of
Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington.
In a message dated 9/23/2008 5:34:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
We all may remember that she wrote another book in which she "twisted"
into another meaning of an Ellen Randolph Coolidge letter to her
husband. In that same book she also said that the DNA test DID NOT prove
that TJ was the father of the Eston Hemings descendant. Keeping this in
mind let's move to her present book as reviewed by a friend and frequent
forum associate, Edmund S. Morgan and for good measure she calls upon
another writer and self stated LIAR, as exposed by the Boston Globe,
Professor Joseph J. Ellis, to write a blurb for her book cover. Let us
not overlook Peter Onuf,(book cover statement: "Jefferson's
Virginia---and Jefferson himself---will never look the same." The public
could rightly reply: not if you had your way! These people, who are
sponsored and supported by certain foundations, and above all
Monticello, where many readers probably think their donations and gifts
are used to honor Mr. Jefferson. They did remove, MEMORIAL from their
title, who are they now memorializing? "Forget it", these and other like
authors (one being the bearer of the news of Prof. Morgan's NYT
article), and a few others discussed on these pages weeks earlier, use
their classrooms and books to "badmouth" a founding father who DID NOT
father slave children that my long research reveals. They all DO have a
deep and resounding agenda. Mrs Gordon-Reed's book is FULL of
misstatements and outright distortions of the truth. One example: On
dust cover: "....Sally, who bore seven children by Jefferson over the
course of their thirty-eight year liaison." WHY hasn't she made
headlines when she found this to be truth....Monticello, myself and the
world have been waiting for this factual evidence, where did you find it
Annette under a rock on Fawn Brodie's property? The author is pulling
out all stops to convince all readers to political correctness and
historical revisionism. Is this the work of a responsible professional
professor or does it fit the mold of Prof. Joseph Ellis who was relieved
from teaching assignments for one year for lying to his students, as
exposed in the Boston Globe? Let the reader decide!
Herbert Barger
Jefferson Family Historian
www.tjheritage.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Kukla
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 7:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-HIST] Annette Gordon-Reed praised by Edmund Morgan
Posted at History News Network, Monday, September 22, 2008 Annette
Gordon-Reed : Edmund Morgan calls her one of the best historians of her
generation <http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/54782.html>
Source: *Marie Morgan and Edmund S. Morgan in the New York Review of
Books
in the course of a review of Annette Gordon-Reed's new book, The
Hemingses
of
Monticello*<http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21855?utm_medium=email&utm_s
ource=Campaign+Monitor&utm_content=91964597&utm_campaign=Joseph+Lelyveld
+on+John+%26+Sarah%2c+Michael+Chabon+on+Obama&utm_term=Jefferson%26%2382
17%3bs+Concubine>(10-9-08)
The Hemingses of Monticello is a brilliant book. It marks the author as
one
of the most astute, insightful, and forthright historians of this
generation. Not least of Annette Gordon-Reed's achievements is her
ability
to bring fresh perspectives to the life of a man whose personality and
character have been scrutinized, explained, and justified by a host of
historians and biographers. They have struggled to illuminate, and
sometimes
to gloss over, the dark places in his life. Like many upright public
figures
who know they are pure and their enemies vile, he was capable of
deviousness
and treachery. He instigated the savage attacks by the anti-Federalist
National Gazette editor Philip Freneau on John Adams, once his fast
friend,
and was flummoxed rather than ashamed at being caught out paying Freneau
to
be his mouthpiece. Such actions gave rise in Jefferson biographies to
characterizations like "enigma" and "sphinx."
The full review is at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21855?email
--
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com
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