Professor Henriques I have not said that the three mentioned professors are not some of America's finest professors. All I know about these are that they and others, including Monticello, write unproven and accusatory statements on subjects (DNA Study) of which they are not proficient or qualified to comment on in such strong terms on. Herb Barger -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Henriques Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 11:57 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Annette Gordon-Reed praised by Edmund Morgan 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 ______________________________________ 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 **************Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tips and calculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001) ______________________________________ 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