sally hemmings was part of a very large family of enslaved people here at monticello who numbered about 80 people. and she was the daughter of the hemmings mattery ark, elizabeth hemmings. and we do believe that years after his wife's death, jefferson fathered six children with sally hemmings, four of whom survived to adulthood. their names were esten, madison, beverly and harriet. so sally hemmings was part of an inheritance. i think it's really important to remember that slaves were property and they could be inherited through marriage as well as being bought and sold. so when jefferson married his wife martha in 1772, she was the daughter of a very wealthy slave trader called john wales. and it was through john wales that jefferson inherited 135 slaves. and sally hemmings was one of those slaves. so she was not born at monticello, she was actually born on the eastern shore. and she arrived here in about 1773 or 1774. sally hemmings with a person sort of shrouded in mystery because we know so little about her. there are actually only four references to her, to descriptions of her that

but we're going to do something different with sally hemmings. i don't want you to -- i just want you all to come. >> no big deal. >> that is called a tease. >> it is moving. it is theatrical. we want people to feel her life and not just know about it. and we also made the decision that we would include nothing without rigorous fact. so as our exhibition designers started weaving things together, they said we can portray this. we said no, we can only work with the words we know. i think it has enormous relevancy to the places twoer day in our country. and gale again, i just love your introduction. you're giving me a lot of launch pad. we legitimatize the oral history of her son which had been ignored for more than 100 years. so when the dna came out, everybody thought oh, now we know. well annette gordan reed came too that conclusion based on evidence way before dna. it was nearly he could ontive and it didn't pin it on thomas jefferson. it only said there was a jefferson male. there was lots of oral history primary and her own sons who made it v

we knew sally hemmings would be the lightning rod. we really did learn from that journey because as we put a cabin the landscape of slavery, we had visit hoarse went inside. we knew what that cabin looked like, we had a firsthand account of how priscilla and john hemmings' cabin looked. the white coverlet, the band box. we could actually do a period interior that had real connection. not just our understanding of slave quarters. and we put that cabin back exactly the way it would have been built, archeologically right where it was. the best of our abilities to be true and honest and accurate. and visitors were aknown to walk in and a child, as has now been in the "washington post," say "that's not so bad." oh my god. so i want to come back to your question, how do you put together the team that works on it? the team cannot only be the people inside the institution. and it has to be a cross-disciplinary team at a minimum. but you've got to have the visitor's voice on that team. at all times remember we are a public trust. as we said ye

when we got to sally hemmings' room, we said, we can't do a period room. what is a period room with a cot and a trunk and take fireplace going to tell us about arguably the most famous african-american woman in history? how is that going to convey she's jefferson's half-white sister, a mother, a daughter, a sister, that she lived in paris, that she negotiated with jefferson, she achieved freedom for her children 50 years ahead of other african-americans because of that negotiation? how do you convey that with the minimal woods we think would have been in her room? we did something rather controversial for an historic site. everyone thinks we're going to monticello, that's how those rooms should look. we said, we've got the cook taes quarter right here. people can look at that to see how slaves lived right next door but we're going to do something different with sally hemmings. i just want you all to come. >> no big reveal. >> it's moving, it's theatrical. we said, we want people to feel her life and not just know about it. we also made the decision that we

it was the young sally hemming who ended up accompanying her to paris. so have -- sally hemmings came and lived with jefferson and his two daughters in paris. and that may have been the beginning of their relationship, however you want to describe it, was in paris. and according to sally hemming'' she became pregnant by jefferson in paris, and it was there that she extracted a very important promise from him. and that was, if she returned to virginia with him and for the the child, in the future, all of her children would be free. this is a huge decision for her, because when she was on french soil, she was considered free. if she had remained in paris, she could have been a free woman. but because of what we think transpired, this promise she extracted from jefferson, she came back here. when jefferson died, all of those children were freed. the sally hemmings and john is jefferson -- thomas jefferson controversy is one that has been going on for over 200 years. but one thing we really want to do now with the current initiatives we are embarking here in

when we got to sally hemmings' room, we said, we can't do a period room.t is a period room with a cot and a trunk and take fireplace going to tell us about arguably the most famous african-american woman in history? how is that going to convey she's jefferson's half-white sister, a mother, a daughter, a sister, that she lived in paris, that she negotiated with jefferson, she achieved freedom for her children 50 years ahead of other african-americans because of that negotiation? how do you convey that with the minimal woods we think would have been in her room? we did something rather controversial for an historic site. everyone thinks we're going to monticello, that's how those rooms should look. we said, we've got the cook taes quarter right here. people can look at that to see how slaves lived right next door but we're going to do something different with sally hemmings. i just want you all to come. >> no big reveal. >> it's moving, it's theatrical. we said, we want people to feel her life and not just know about it. we also made the decision that we wou

i have not seen the sally hemmings quarters but i'm eager to see it. >> fascinating. >> it's remarkablethe institutions not grounded in veneration can find it within themselves to renew themselves to be contemporary in the best sense of the word. i tip my hat to organizations like the mount vernon ladies association and the thomas jefferson foundation. they are models in a lot of ways. >> montpelier did it, too, with slave quarters. justice ginsburg said the constitution constantly is becoming more inclusive and telling the story in a way that gives voices to underrepresented groups and it's a great privilege. >> i have two more disruptors and 22 minutes. jeffrey, we have touched on it. it's digital technology. i chose you for this to pick up on the targeting by generations because you teach. i was just overnight reading a study based on scientific research that the digital generation are having brain changes about absorption of information and processing because of living their life on digital technology. they learn differently. their attention spans are different. you are serving cons

i've not seen the sally hemmings quarters. i read about it and eager to see it. it's remarkable that these institutions that aren't grounded in veneration can find it within themselves to renew themselves and to be contemporary in the best sense of the word. i really tip my hat to organizations like the mount vernon ladies association and the thomas jefferson foundation. i mean they are models, i think, in a lot of ways. >> montpelier has done it too with the slaves quarters. the constitution is more inclusive. and that idea of telling the story in ways that gives voices to all of underrepresented groups and includes sthem a great privilege. >> i have two more disruptors and 22 minutes. jeffrey, you're my lead on this one. we touched on it a bit. it is digital technology. i shows you fchose you for thisu teach and i was just overnight reading a study based on scientific research that the digital generation are having brain changes because of digital technology. they learn differently. they learn one way compared to people that grew up with books. how do you serve

i have not seen sally hemmings's quarters, but i have read about it and i'm eager to see it.it is remarkable that these institutions that are grounded in veneration, can find it within themselves to renew themselves, and to be contemporary in the best sense of the word. i tip my hat to organizations like the mount vernon ladies association, the thomas jefferson foundation. they are models i think, in a lot of ways, not hillyer has done it, too, with those had quarters. justice -- the constitution becoming more inclusive. that idea of telling the story in ways that gives voices to all of the underrepresented groups, and includes them in the american history, is a great privilege. >> let's move quickly here. jeffrey -- jeffrey engel, you are my lead here. we have touched on it a bit in digital technology. just to pick up on the targeting by the generation. because --. i was overnight reading, studying, based on scientific research, that the digital generation are having brain changes about absorption of information and processing, because of living their life on digital technol