Cultural depictions of Sally Hemings

Last updated

Sally Hemings has been represented in the media in popular culture due to her relationship with American Founding Father and president Thomas Jefferson. She has been portrayed in films and the inspiration for novels, plays and music.

Contents

Literature

In television

In film

In opera

In theater

In music

In art

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monticello</span> Primary residence of U.S. Founding Father and president Thomas Jefferson

Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 14. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres (20 km2), with Jefferson using the labor of African slaves for extensive cultivation of tobacco and mixed crops, later shifting from tobacco cultivation to wheat in response to changing markets. Due to its architectural and historic significance, the property has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1987, Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current nickel, a United States coin, features a depiction of Monticello on its reverse side.

Sarah "Sally" Hemings was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, one of many he inherited from his father-in-law, John Wayles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Jefferson Randolph</span> First Lady of the United States from 1801 to 1809

Martha "Patsy" Randolph was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She was born at Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia.

<i>Jefferson in Paris</i> 1995 French film

Jefferson in Paris is a 1995 historical drama film, directed by James Ivory, and previously entitled Head and Heart. The screenplay, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, is a semi-fictional account of Thomas Jefferson's tenure as the Ambassador of the United States to France before his presidency and of his alleged relationships with Italian-English artist Maria Cosway and his slave, Sally Hemings.

Eston Hemings Jefferson was born into slavery at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race enslaved woman. Most historians who have considered the question believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that a descendant of Eston matched the Jefferson male line, and historical evidence also supports the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson was probably Eston's father. Many historians believe that Jefferson and Sally Hemings had six children together, four of whom survived to adulthood. Other historians disagree.

The Jefferson–Hemings controversy is a historical debate over whether there was a sexual relationship between the widowed U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and his slave and sister-in-law, Sally Hemings, and whether he fathered some or all of her six recorded children. For more than 150 years, most historians denied rumors that he had a slave concubine, Sally Hemings. Based on his grandson's report, they said that one of his nephews had been the father of Hemings's children. In the 21st century, most historians agree that Jefferson is the father of one or more of Sally's children.

<i>Thomas Jefferson</i> (film) 1997 American film

Thomas Jefferson is a 1997 two-part American documentary film directed and produced by Ken Burns. It covers the life and times of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Hemings</span> American freed slave (1805–1877)

Madison Hemings was the son of the mixed-race enslaved woman Sally Hemings and, according to most Jefferson scholars, her enslaver, President Thomas Jefferson. He was the third of her four children to survive to adulthood. Born into slavery, according to partus sequitur ventrem, Hemings grew up on Jefferson's Monticello plantation, where his mother was also enslaved. After some light duties as a young boy, Hemings became a carpenter and fine woodwork apprentice at around age 14 and worked in the joiner's shop until he was about 21. He learned to play the violin and was able to earn money by growing cabbages. Jefferson died in 1826, after which Sally Hemings was "given her time" by Jefferson's surviving daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monticello Association</span>

The Monticello Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1913 to care for, preserve, and continue the use of the family graveyard at Monticello, the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. The organization's members are lineal descendants of Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. The site is located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was the designer, builder, owner, and, with his family, a first resident of Monticello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Jefferson Randolph</span> American politician

Thomas Jefferson Randolph of Albemarle County was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, and as a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The favorite grandson of President Thomas Jefferson, he helped manage Monticello near the end of his grandfather's life and was executor of his estate, and later also served in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 and at the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861.

<i>American Sphinx</i> 1996 book about Thomas Jefferson written by Joseph Ellis

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, is a 1996 book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College. It won the 1997 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Barbara Chase-Riboud is an American visual artist and sculptor, bestselling novelist, and award-winning poet.

Elizabeth Hemings was an enslaved mixed-race woman in colonial Virginia. With her enslaver, planter John Wayles, she had six children, including Sally Hemings. These children were three-quarters white, and, following the condition of their mother, they were enslaved from birth; they were half-siblings to Wayles's daughter, Martha Jefferson. After Wayles died, the Hemings family and some 120 other enslaved people were inherited, along with 11,000 acres and £4,000 debt, as part of his estate by his daughter Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson.

Yvonne L. Andrews, known professionally as Tina Andrews, is an American actress, television producer, screenwriter, author and playwright. She played Valerie Grant in the series Days of Our Lives from 1975 until 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annette Gordon-Reed</span> American historian

Annette Gordon-Reed is an American historian and law professor. She is currently the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University and a professor of history in the university's Faculty of Arts & Sciences. She is formerly the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Gordon-Reed is noted for changing scholarship on Thomas Jefferson regarding his relationship with Sally Hemings and her children.

Harriet Hemings was born into slavery at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, in the first year of his presidency. Most historians believe her father was Jefferson, who is now believed to have fathered, with his slave Sally Hemings, four children who survived to adulthood.

Israel Jefferson, known as Israel Gillette before 1844, was born a slave at Monticello, the plantation estate of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States. He worked as a domestic servant close to Jefferson for years, and also rode with his brothers as a postilion for the landau carriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titus Kaphar</span> American painter

Titus Kaphar is an American contemporary painter whose work reconfigures and regenerates art history to include the African-American subject. His paintings are held in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, New Britain Museum of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and University of Michigan Museum of Art.

<i>Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings</i> US fictional literature

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings is a 2016 historical fiction novel by American writer Stephen O'Connor. The novel depicts the relationship between Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, and Sally Hemings, his slave and sister-in-law. The depiction, which portrayed the relationship as consensual and romantic, was the focus of controversy due to questions about Hemings's status as a slave and her age difference with Jefferson.

Since his death, Founding Father and third U.S. president Thomas Jefferson has been an iconic American figure depicted in many forms. Jefferson has often been portrayed by Hollywood, and has been depicted in a wide range of forms including alternative timelines, animation, documentary, small cameos, and fictionalized interpretations.

References

  1. Ishida, Yoriko (2010). Modern and Postmodern Narratives of Race, Gender, and Identity: The Descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings (Modern American Literature). Peter Lang International Academic Publishers. p. 6. ISBN   978-1433108754.
  2. "A Popular but Controversial Biography". Pbs.org. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  3. "Thomas Jefferson's Unknown Grandchildren". americanheritage.com. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  4. Gordon-Reed (1998), pp. 182–83.
  5. "The Jeffersons - George And The President Pt 1 of 3". YouTube . Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  6. "The Jeffersons - George And The President Part 2 of 3". YouTube . Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  7. "The Jeffersons - George And The President Part 3 of 3". YouTube . Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  8. "Review: 'Sally Hemings: An American Scandal'". Variety.com. February 10, 2000. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  9. "The History of a Secret", 1995–2011, accessed 5 May 2011
  10. Shelby Steele (writer, narrator) (2000-05-03). "Jefferson's Blood". PBS Frontline documentary. PBS. WGBH, Boston.
  11. "Jefferson's Blood". pbs.org. 2 May 0200. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  12. "Thomas Jefferson Meets Sally Hemings - SNL". YouTube.
  13. Berkshire, Geoff (November 12, 2013). "Its Ichabod Versus the Internet and We all win". Hitfix. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  14. Travers, Peter (March 31, 1995). "Jefferson in Paris". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  15. ""Tom and Sally in Paris," Excerpt 1". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  16. ""Tom and Sally in Paris" Opera Excerpt 2, "The Bastille"". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  17. ""Tom and Sally in Paris," Opera excerpt 3". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  18. "Tom and Sally in Paris," Opera excerpt 4 of 4". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  19. ""Monticello Wakes: Luce and Char," Excerpt 1". YouTube. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  20. Janiak, Lily (2017-10-04). "'Thomas and Sally': How much did she choose?". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  21. Kost, Ryan (2017-10-22). "Marin play ignites debate about history and slavery". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  22. "Sally & Tom | Guthrie Theater".
  23. "Sally". albany.edu. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  24. "World Premiere of From the Diary of Sally Hemings at Library of Congress". Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  25. "From the Diary of Sally Hemings". .sandraseaton.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  26. "Following up 'Hamilton': THEY'RE READY (The Ballad of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings)". YouTube .
  27. "They're Ready: The Ballad of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings". IMDb .
  28. "National Portrait Gallery: Titus Kaphar and Ken Gonzales-Day Explore 'UnSeen' Narratives in Historic Portraiture". 28 March 2018.