137 The Divergent Lives of Thomas Jefferson’s White and Black Daughters

In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we dive into the fascinating story of the daughters of Thomas Jefferson. Ever since the revelations in 1998 – courtesy of modern DNA analysis – that Thomas Jefferson did indeed have a longterm sexual relationship with an enslaved woman named Sally Hemings, historians have examined the 3rd president in a new light. And his historic home, Monticello, has transformed the way it presents the life of Jefferson, devoting increasing amounts of attention and space to Sally Hemings and the many hundreds of other enslaved people who lived and worked there. But what of the six children Hemings and Jefferson had? What was their fate in a nation dedicated to slavery? To explain one of these lives, Harriett Hemings, and to compare it to that of her white half-sisters Martha and Maria Jefferson, I speak with historian Catherine Kerrison, the author of a new book, Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America.

Recommended reading:

Catherine Kerrison, Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America (Ballantine, 2018) Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination (WW Norton)

Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton, 2009)

Annette Gordon-Reed, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (University Press of Virginia, 1997)

Shannon Lanier, Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family

More info about Catherine Kerrison - website

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Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive) Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

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© In The Past Lane, 2019

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