Reviews of Books

A President in the Family: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and Thomas Woodson. By Byron W. Woodson, Sr. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2001. Pp. xviii, 271. $24.95.)

Free Some Day: The African American Families of Monticello, By Lucia Stanton. Monticello Monograph Series. (Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2000. Pp. 192. $13.95 paper.)

In October 1998 the announcement that DNA analysis identified Thomas Jefferson as the most likely father of a child by his slave Sally Hemings seemed to bring to a conclusion a historical debate that had been waging for years. 1 Any remaining doubts about Jefferson's paternity were apparently removed when the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the organization that owns and operates Jefferson's historic Charlottesville, Virginia, home Monticello, issued a report soon afterward declaring that "the best evidence available suggests the strong likelihood that Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings had a relationship over time that led to the birth of one, and perhaps all, of the known children of Sally Hemings." 2 Several notable scholars of Jefferson quickly reversed their previous denials of the affair. 3 A book on the subject issued by the University Press of Virginia and a Forum in the William and Mary Quarterly, both containing articles by leading historians, presented the new consensus "that virtually all professional historians will accept that Jefferson was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings's children." 4	1
Now, two new books have shattered the illusion that a kind of historical finality had been achieved.	2
Very shortly after the initial announcement of the DNA results a group of individuals describing themselves as "concerned businessmen and women, historians, genealogists, scientists, and patriots" formed the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society (TJHS) to defend the reputation of the Virginian. The new organization quickly published a statement of its case by several members. The title forthrightly declares their view: The Jefferson-Hemings Myth, an American Travesty. The book was soon followed by its own "Scholars Report," issued over the Internet, containing the opinions of thirteen academics in the fields of law, government, medicine, economics, political science, and history. 5 Historians on the committee of scholars included Lance Banning, Robert H. Ferrell, Alf J. Mapp, Jr., David N. Mayer, Forrest McDonald, and Paul Rahe. Except for Rahe, who differs with the conclusions of the other historians, all the individuals are in basic agreement with the views of Professor Robert F. Turner, Associate Director, Center for National Security Law, at the University of Virginia, whose lengthy position paper constitutes the bulk of the "Scholars' Report."	. . .