First, I'd like to thank all of you who have responded, and continue to respond, to my inquiry about involving descendants of plantation residents in the public interpretation of plantation life --- I wasn't going to send anything else to the net on this issue until I finished compiling the results of my query, but have decided to respond to a recent posting by Carol Ely in response to a posting from Ellen Schwartz ..... >From Ellen Schwartz: >> This may not go anywhere, but last year there was an event at Monticello >> that brought T. Jefferson's descendents, white and black, together. This may >> have only been a one time thing, but considering the discussion that >>continues >> about Jefferson and his slave mistress, they may be pursuing a more long term >> interpretation, including continued dialogue with the parties involved. >> Ellen Schwartz >> [log in to unmask] >From Carol Ely: >Wait a minute, here. You so casually refer to "Jefferson's >descendents, white and black" and "Jefferson's slave mistress" >as if this were established fact, which it definitely is not. >The event at Monticello brought together descendents of the >plantation, white and black, not necessarily Jefferson's >personal descendents. Monticello does not take a position for >or against the claims of Jefferson's relationship with Sally >Hemings, which is still very much an open question among >Jefferson scholars. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, >owners of Monticello, are actively moving towards a more >inclusive presentation of plantation life, especially including >the experiences of African-Americans as slaves. > >Carol Ely >Virginia Discovery Museum >Charlottesville >(no affilation with Monticello, just an interested bystander) I think that the above postings are evidence of why it is so important to maintain a currency between the "public" interpretation of history and "scholarly" historical and archaeological research -- and they also could be read as evidence of the need for more involvement, on the part of academics, in mass media/public relations issues. I have no idea whether or not Ellen attended the event discussed, or whether she heard about it via mass media or some other source. I received several other private messages with similar information as that contained in Ellen's post. Carol Ely seems to be criticizing (this is not a flame, Carol!) Ellen's well-intentioned message --- which I regret, because I was happy to receive Ellen's info in the positive spirit in which I believe it was intended. I was also happy to receive Carol's clarification of what actually happened at Monticello vis a vis the event in question. But I don't think that Ellen was being "casual", but, rather, that she was communicating what she believed to have been a true representation of the event. Even if she heard about the event from museum/professional sources, it still shows how a public event or interpretation can be filtered/changed/ etc. depending on who's doing the telling and interpreting. Along the lines of the "seven blind men and an elephant" story and "the Rashomon effect". Until I started researching this field two years ago, I had no idea that Monticello did not take a position "for or against the claims of Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings", and I also did not know that it was "still very much an open question among Jefferson scholars". I thought that the Jefferson/Hemings relationship was a matter of so-called historical "fact". What I "knew" was what the general public "knows" --- not what the scholarly community *thinks* that the public *knows*. Or should know. My misconceptions were corrected when I visited Monticello and asked lots of questions --- not before. And, I might add, the whole issue of Jefferson and his slaves is something that has only been addressed by Monticello in more recent years, as a result of the hard work of many people -- archaeologists, interpreters, historians, "interested bystanders", and others. From what I understand, a lot of folks resisted dealing with it directly for a very long time. Kudos to those who are pushing in the right direction now. It's great that Monticello is "actively moving towards a more inclusive presentation of plantation life", and I hope that someday the foundation is willing to take a position on the Hemings question. But, thanks to both Carol and Ellen, and keep the info coming! Carol McDavid [log in to unmask]