SunTrust Humanities Lecture Series, 2001-2002

THOMAS JEFFERSON AND SALLY HEMINGS
A Close Look at the Evidence

Paul A. Rahe
Professor of History, University of Tulsa

Thursday, October 18, 2001
7:30 PM
Signal Mountain Room, University Center, UTC

Two centuries have passed, but inquiring minds still want to know: Did
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third
President of the United States, have a sexual relationship with the slave
Sally Hemings? Might he have been the father of one or more of her children?

Scholars continue to cross swords over these matters. A recent committee of
the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation found a "strong likelihood" of such
a relationship. But then the Jefferson-Hemings Scholars Commission responded
with a counter-report, casting strong doubt on the previous group's
conclusions.

Paul Rahe takes a uniquely independent position in this matter, having
served on the latter commission, but having also been the sole member of the
commission to dissent from the its findings. He will devote his lecture to a
fascinating re-examination of the evidence, which is designed to allow
audience members to reach their own conclusions as to what happened. Rahe is
a scholar of unsual breadth and versatility, and is the author of, among
many other works, "Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and
the American Revolution."

The lecture is sponsored by the SunTrust Chair of Excellence in Humanities
at UTC, and is free and open to the public.