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Television
Focus
A
Focus > ------------- ¡Xlyf ^liuUauh ©baerrier
April 19, 2000
S U P P L E M E N T
O F
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^ o rtla n ù
(©baerUer
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1 W T V Porttead Observer
In January 2000, the Thom as
Jefferson Memorial Foundation
issued a one-inch thick report stating
that an exhaustive historical and
forensic investigation “indicates a
high p ro b a b ility that T hom as
Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings,
and that he most likely was the
father o f all six o f Sally Hemings’
children...”
The report supported what DNA
tests had already suggested, and
what descendants o f the slave Sally
Hemings had been saying for nearly
200 years: that the famed Founding
Father and author of the Declaration
o f Independence had a long-term
sexual relationship with his slave
that resulted in six children, four of
whom lived to adulthood.
But w ith the paternity o f the
Hemings children all but confirmed,
the controversy is far from over. As
the Monticello Association prepares
to readdress the Jefferson- Hem ings
issue at its May 6-7 annual meeting,
FRONTLINE presents “Jefferson’s
Blood,” a documentary produced
by Thomas Lennon and narrated by
a u th o r S h e lb y S te e le a irin g
Tuesday, May 2 at 10 pm. on PBS
(check local listings). Moving back
and forth between Jefferson’s 18lh
century world and the present day,
the film recounts both the history of
the Jefferson-Hemings relationship
and the modern-day repercussions
o f that relationship for the late
presidents’ descendants-both black
and white.
Through interviews with historians
an d J e f f e r s o n ’s 2 1 “ cen tu ry
p ro g en y , “Je ffe rs o n ’s B lo o d ”
examines how the issue o f the
president’s paternity continues to
divide families and spark national
debate. The film also explores how
Jefferson’s lifelong denial o f his
“ shad o w fa m ily ” illu stra te s
America’s continuing struggle with
issues o f race and identity.
Through interviews with historians
and J e f f e r s o n ’s 2 1 “ cen tu ry
p ro g en y , “J e ffe rs o n ’s B lo o d ”
exam ines how the issue o f the
president’s paternity continues to
divide families and spark national
debate. The film also explores how
Jefferson’s lifelong denial o f his
“ shad o w fa m ily ” illu stra te s
America’scontinuing struggle with
issues o f race and identity.
“Jefferson represents a classic white
problem,” author Steele says in the
documentary. “How to live with an
Shay Banks Young, a
descendant o f Sally's son
Madison, places flowers at ,
Jefferson's grave.
P h o t o by T o r e B e r c s a k e r /
Y2K spring Cleanup
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open evil (slavery) and yet
maintainasenseofone’so w n ,
decency.”
“Jefferson’s Blood” traces
the racial divide am ong
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Jefferson’s kin to the present
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Jefferson and Sally Hemings.
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president. This discovery,
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however, has left the Cooper
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heritage and others content
to leave the past buried.
I »holsters
■------------ ----------------
FRONTLINE, for example,
■ Sofa & Loveseat
speaks with the Rev. Thomas
OrChair
W oodson
and
B yron
L ______________________________________________ ______________I
Woodson, two members o f
R oom Special
the vast Woodson clan that
* - ---------------------------- — -I
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has been vocal in seeking
Any
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admittance to the Jefferson
Hallway Plus Sofa, Loveseat and/or Chair Cleaned -B- -B. S ____ (
cemetery for black Hemings
descendants. Both Woodson
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descended from a slave
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H em ings’ first child by
Jefferson. Family lore, they
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quarreled with Jefferson and
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(Please see ‘Jefferson’
page 8)
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