Catherine, Others will be soon coming out with books dealing with this very subject also. Looks like a great cap to the full 10 years since the Jefferson-Hemings FIASCO first burst forth to confuse the public and lead them to believe that TJ fathered slave children. I hope you will offer the same coverage to these future authors that you afford Mrs. Gordon-Reed. May I suggest that you discuss the possibility of a full investigation into the handling of this important topic with your top management. You would be doing a great community service to air this controversy fully. The "he's not guilty group" would be most happy to participate in any nationally or regionally televised debate on this subject. In fact, the Annette Gordon-Reed broadcast would be a good time for this to be included. You may know that AGR completely gave a 180 degree account of a letter from TJ's granddaughter, Ellen Randolph Coolidge, to her husband, completely changing the meaning of the subject. She did state in her book that DNA did NOT prove that the Eston Hemings descendant was a descendant of TJ. Let us see what her new book will have to say regarding TJ's legacy..........I have a copy on order and will read every word. The Hemings family refusal to gather further DNA from a son of Madison Hemings would make a good topic for Annette to cover.......will she? Will she tell us about Dr. Foster's selection of a known male Eston descendant, John Weeks Jefferson, and the fact that his family had ALWAYS claimed descent from "a Jefferson uncle", meaning Randolph Jefferson, younger TJ brother. SURE there would be a match, and there was, if we are to believe the Eston family oral history, BUT TJ.........NO! DNA does not consider given names. The test only proved that the Eston oral history was correct..........no more no less. Eston never claimed descent from Thomas Jefferson that Madison Hemings did. Further, will she tell us that Madison Hemings claim in the Pike Co., Ohio newspaper, is an UNPROVED statement that Dolley Madison named him on the date of his birth at Monticello on Jan. 19.1805. Research indicates that the Madisons NEVER visited Va. from Washington during winter. Just emagine, if you will, that Dolley, supporting her husband as Secretary of State and Mr. Jefferson as his White House Hostess At the beginning of a busy second term, announces that she must rush through the dangerous mid-winter on a four day hazardous journey, to the bedside of a slave who is to have "A MALE" birth of which she would like to name for her husband. This was long before we could predict the sex of a child prior to birth and what if it would have been a female? Ha, ha, you get the point! To "slam" the white people of the time Madison says that Sally was promised a nice gift which was not given, BUT thatb was the procedure that white people did. The abolitionist reporter Samuel Wetmore was "cock sure" that no one of that time could REFUTE that preposterous claim, but modern researchers have more advanced tools at hand. The opposition paper, The Waverly Watchman, six days later, completely tore apart this newspaper claim in a scornful retort. Herb Barger Jefferson Family Historian Asst. to Dr. Foster with the Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Catherine Moore Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:25 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Mr. Jefferson's Women Dear List, Watching this discussion unfold, I hope that you all will tune in to BackStory's interview with Annette Gordon-Reed, who has just finished a new book on this subject: The Hemingses of Monticello--An American Family (not yet released). She has some very interesting things to say about why this debate is still so interesting to Americans. She is a guest on our history of interracial mixing show, which will air in Virginia on July 26th (WMRA) and 27th (Radio IQ). Out-of-staters will be able to listen to the show online by audio stream or podcast at www.backstoryradio.org. "BackStory With the American History Guys" is a new public radio show that brings historical perspective to the events happening around us every day. Catherine Moore Research/Production Assistant BackStory, VFH Radio Charlottesville, VA 434-924-4403 [log in to unmask] wrote: > I think the point is the exact opposite. Why are academic types > insistent > on proving that a founding father had sex with some Black female. I think the > interracial sex aspect must titillate you all. > > > In a message dated 7/17/2008 9:24:08 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > Ins't Herb's "theory" simply that it was anyone but Jefferson? The > logic > escapes me. > > Jefferson was a man with normal, even high level, sex drive. As young > man he > propositioned his neighbor's wife; his own wife was constantly pregnant. > When she died Sally was soon available. Sally was his wife's half-sister and > probably looked somewhat (much) like his late wife. Jefferson lived in a > culture where slaveowning men had free and easy access to their slave women. > Elite slaveowners, like Jefferson, lived in a culture where sex with slaves was > common and unexceptional. As a widower Jefferson was not even subject to > raise eyebrows for cheating on his wfe. While some modern scholars are shocked > at the olded Jefferson having a relationship with the teenaged Sally, this > was not shocking at the time. Madison was courting a girl in her early teens > when he was in his late 20s or early 30s and no one thought anything of it. > President Tyler married a much much younger woman after his first wife died. > This was not uncommon. Nor were most of the Founders "prudes" or > "Victorians" about sex (John Adams and perhaps John Jay are notable exceptions). > > So, the real issue is why are people like Herb so invested in > asserting that > TJ could not, would not, did not, have sex with Sally, when all the evidence > (timing of her the birth of her children, access, etc.) was there before the > DNA came along? Why would we expect anything else from a slaveholding > widower isolated on his mountain top? Do we think Jefferson in his 40s became a > monk? > > > > Paul Finkelman > President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public > Policy Albany Law School > 80 New Scotland Avenue > Albany, New York 12208-3494 > > 518-445-3386 > [log in to unmask] > >>>> Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> 07/17/08 9:05 AM >>> >>>> > Unless I am mistaken, Herb's theory (and this is a new theory) that > the French servant Adrien Petit fathered children with Sally Hemings > at Monticello does not hold water. Adrien Petit worked for Jefferson > in Philadelphia and he returned to France in January 1794, a year > before Sally Hemings conceived Harriet 1, who was born in October > 1795. Petit was across the sea when Hemings conceived children at > Monticello. If there is a record that states otherwise I will be glad > to see it. > > Henry Wiencek > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > > **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music > scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! > (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html