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Shawn Huckins' painting of Thomas Jefferson with a WiFi symbol over his face, 2017.

Meet Thomas Jefferson

Portraying a 19th-century president.
Montpelier, the home of James Madison in Orange, Virginia

Is History for Sale?

The omnipresence of slavery at historic sites today seems intended to tarnish remarkable achievements and promote the cause of identity politics.

Jefferson’s Monticello Finally Gives Sally Hemings Her Place in Presidential History

New exhibits put slavery at the center of Monticello's story, and make it clear that Jefferson was the father of Hemings' children.
Mississippian funerary heads in the collection of Monticello.

“Kicked About”: Native Culture at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

Kristine K. Ronan describes her discovery of two Native American statues at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Historians Uncover Slave Quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

Archaeologists have uncovered the slave quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello mansion.
The front cover of Peter Manseau's new book, featuring a photo of Jefferson's bible.

Doubting Thomas

Is Jefferson's Bible evidence that the Founding Fathers engaged with scripture to birth a Christian nation? Or that they sought to foster a new secular order?
Monument depicting Hannah Duston

Why Just 'Adding Context' to Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history.
Film portrayal of James Hemmings

America’s First Connoisseur

Edward White’s new monthly column, “Off Menu,” serves up lesser-told stories of chefs cooking in interesting times.
Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson and the Declaration

Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence announced a new epoch in world history, transforming a provincial tax revolt into a great struggle to liberate humanity.

When Slavery Is Erased From Plantations

Some historical sites have struggled to reconcile founding-era exceptionalism with the true story of America’s original sin.
Thomas Jefferson's library at the Library of Congress.

Mr. Jefferson’s Books & Mr. Madison’s War

The burning of Washington presented an opportunity for Jefferson’s books to educate the nation by becoming a national library.
Thomas Jefferson's two-volume personal copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Qur'an. Library of Congress.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur’an

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau.

Thomas Jefferson and Us

The resurgence of the debate over the Sage of Monticello's legacy: Is Jefferson the ultimate patriot or ultimate hypocrite?

Charlottesville: Why Jefferson Matters

Annette Gordon-Reed explores the ways in which the many paradoxes of Jefferson make him a potent figure for racists and anti-racists alike.

Hunting Down Runaway Slaves: The Cruel Ads of Andrew Jackson and the 'Master Class'

A historian collecting runaway slave ads describes them as “the tweets of the master class.”

Jefferson: Hero or Villain? It’s Complicated.

An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf.
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Remembering Slavery

At museums and historic sites throughout the American South, a fuller and more complex picture of slavery is finally taking shape.
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Sunrise at Monticello

Jefferson and his connection to partisanship in early America.
Cartoon depiction of a confederate statue, its hat falling off as it is lifted off a pedestal covered in graffiti about love and justice

After the Lost Cause

Why are politics so consumed with the past?
French military marching in practice for the Bastille Day Parade.
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The American Founders Celebrated the Storming of the Bastille

They understood that revolution means dismantling old power structures, violently if necessary.

You Are Not Safe in Science; You Are Not Safe in History

“I ask: what’s been left out of the historical record of my South and my nation? What is the danger in not knowing?”

Memo From a Historian: White Ladies Cooking in Plantation Museums are a Denial of History

At museums across the South, you'll often find a white woman cooking in a big house kitchen. That's a role that was usually done by enslaved Africans.

Historians Write About a Different Jefferson Now: Four Books Show How Different

Four new books show how different, and maybe also why.
Atticus Finch and children at the diningroom table in the film "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Prop and Property

The house in American cinema, from the plantation to Chavez Ravine.

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