Neil and all,
Thank you Neil for pointing out a GREAT paper by Prof. Mayer. He is
ABSOLUTELY correct in his assessment and I also have a copy of a letter he
sent to Dr. Daniel Jordan, Monticello President, sometime ago and he DID NOT
pull any punches in his anger and disgust at Jordan's tactics. If he would
permit me to summarize it for our readers here I and YOU would be most
appreciative. I have several other copies of letters to Dan Jordan
registering complaints of such shoddy and biased research and discontinuing
their large donations to Monticello. The "hiding under the rug" of Dr.
Wallenborn's very valuable Minority Report was the breaking point for many.
Deception did not fit into the image of a foundation owning Mr. Jefferson's
home and being manipulative about the study just did not seem to work
together.
We also have a very valuable item we would gladly contribute to the
Monticello collection (a wax imprint of Thomas Jefferson's ancestral
grandfather's (Thomas Jefferson I) Custom Stamp, authenticated by the
British Government in early colonial history. It is very detailed and
beautiful BUT I told the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation as long as Dan
Jordan and the present management there remained we would not give this
present. WHEN and IF Monticello decides to be fair and call another research
study to replace the biased Monticello Study, supervised by the
African-American, oral history specialist, Dianne Swann-Wright, we would
reevaluate our position, in our opinion, our research has shown that the
present management there operates in a manner "hazardous to the image and
legacy of Mr. Jefferson. I and other members of the Thomas Jefferson
Heritage Society (www.tjheritage.org) would welcome an interview with the
full Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the new Chairman and the new President.
A new impartial and independent group of scholars and specialists MUST have
a study that would consider ALL facts known about this fiasco. The public
has been "conned and lied to" long enough and it's definitely brought out in
the Annette Gordon-Reed book and in her first book also. Dianne Swann-Wright
and most of the members of the original biased report group have since
departed. Dan Jordan who has steadfast idly maintained that stance will be
retiring in a few days. Just imagine his claim that probably all of Sally's
children were fathered by TJ when ONLY ONE was tested. It is this unfair,
unproven and INCORRECT statement that article writers, history writers, the
media and others stress when writing about the Jefferson-Hemings Study. Let
the CORRECT word go forth from the mountain top, not a politically motivated
agenda. As time permits I will write selected snippets from this "DEFECTIVE"
Monticello Report that will enlighten the readers knowledge of this and how
easily the bias can be seen.
Let us HOPE that a new leaf will be turned over on the mountain and that the
Thomas Jefferson Foundation "restored" to it's original title, The Thomas
Jefferson MEMORIAL Foundation.
UNITE...Jefferson lovers and admirers, DEMAND A MAJOR correction there. I
have any information on this fiasco that you may need.
Herbert Barger
Jefferson Family Historian
Dr. Hardwick and all,
As so well presented by David N. Mayer, a professor of law and history and
member of the Scholars' Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings Matter, there is
indeed a politicization of the TJ-SH Myth, which is widespread in the
American History world beyond that. It permeates your profession, due to
"...the rise of three related phenomena in higher education -- the
'political correctness' movement, multiculturalism, and post-modernism --
(that) helps explain why the TJ-SH myth has become so readily accepted
today, not only by the American general public but also by scholars who
should know better."
Among other topics, Mayer goes on to address how many American historians
have resigned their memberships in historians' professional organizations
(AHA and OAH) due to the growing political radicalism mentioned above. In
fact, Mayer says, and I quote due to its importance: "...scholars feel
pressured to accept the Jefferson-Hemings myth as historical truth. White
male scholars in particular fear that by questioning the myth -- by
challenging the validity of the oral tradition "evidence" cited by some of
the Hemings descendants -- they will be called racially "insensitive," if
not racist....and, among many proponents of the Jefferson paternity claim
there has emerged a truly disturbing McCarthyist-like inquisition that has
cast its pall over Jefferson scholarship today."
Continuing: "Questioning the validity of the claim has been equated with the
denigration of African Americans and the denial of their rightful place in
American history. In this climate of scholarly and public opinion, it
requires great personal courage for scholars to question the Jefferson
paternity thesis and to point out the dubious historical record on which it
rests."
And, "In both the preface and conclusion to her book, Professor Gordon-Reed
quite directly admits that her mission is to expose the "troubling, --i.e.,
racist -- assumptions made by historians who have denied "the truth of a
liaison between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.""
So, with this knowledge, why would anyone wish to read her latest book.
It's yet another one of a series, a 'team' effort intended to tear down
Thomas Jefferson's image and legacy, piece by piece. As to further
politicization, it is self-admittance when Joseph Ellis (as at least
once-leader of the Monticello Foundation historians' group) says that
tearing down Jefferson is paramount as "the dead-white-male who matters
most" and the "most valued trophy in the cultural wars." How more clearly
political can this be...!!
How well must this politicization be hid from some scholars, for it not to
be readily recognized and openly discussed.
I recommend viewers read Mayer's entire presentation here, it's very
informing and only requires a few minutes:
http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html
Mayer doesn't speak alone, there are many more articles by prominent
historians in the history journals.
Neil McDonald
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