Book Report

The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy

The Report of Scholars Commission

The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy was just released in September and is a book that everyone who loves truth and history should read.  Written by 13 Jefferson scholars it sets the record straight about Jefferson’s so called sexual relationship with Sally Hemings and his fathering a child with her.

My interest was sparked when I mentioned the subject to a retired college professor who in turn sent me an article claiming that the issue was closed and commenced to give some sorted details about Jefferson’s affair with the young African-American girl.  I responded by pointing out that the article was not documented nor had I ever read many of the so called details anywhere else.  Upon my reply, the old professor got quite angry that I was questioning his facts and inferred he was more intelligent than I, and that I should accept his facts for he was educated and graduated from Stanford.  It is this kind of exchange that goads you into digging deeper.

Needless to say, when I saw the “The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy” I was delighted.  I found the book on Amazon and down loaded it for $10 and read the majority of it the first night.  It confirmed what I already believed, that it was quite unlikely that the stories, gossip, and slander about Jefferson’s so-called affair was true.

The book also gives us some insight into how easily academia is deceived by pseudo scholars when the deception fits their preconceived ideas and ideology.  The book also documents the outright dishonesty of some of the historians who have written about Jefferson.  Obviously, these were some of the books my professor friend had read at Stanford.

The book is published by Carolina Academic Press, 700 Kent Street, Durham, NC 27701.  The hard back version is expensive $45.00, the Kindle version is less than $10.00.

Lyle Duell