Monticello, once the home of Thomas Jefferson and 400 enslaved men, women and children, is a testament to America's legacy of freedom and slavery. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Read full bio Most Popular Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's . View and manage who you follow on Amazon. Get daily or weekly highlights from The 700 Club delivered to your inbox. Error: There was an internal error submitting your form. White, a Henrico County resident, and the public relations and community engagement officer at Monticello, describes her four-decade effort to reclaim her family heritage in her recently released book, Reclamation., Or as she wrote: It was always my goal to uncover my roots, to understand my familys place in American history, and to restore them to the nations narrative. With Cinders help, Gayles four decades of research would soon culminate: Thomas Jefferson was her 5-times great grandfather, and Sally Hemings, her 4-times great aunt. She was thirteen when her sister shared a bit of family lore regarding the main author of the Declaration of Independencethey were related. Two years later, she joined the staff as Community Engagement Officer, becoming a principal spokesperson and the first descendant of Jefferson and the families he enslaved to work for the Foundation. Essence, "One of November's Eagerly Anticipated Reads" Ms. magazine, Gayle Jessup Whites multilayered autobiography . In the 90s, when Gayle was out of college and building a career in journalism, she got serious about her search. As she desperately prays for healing, hear the message she receives from God on todays A woman receives an answer to a prayer she never wanted to pray. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Gayles son, Charles, lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he attended school. It was four generations of the Jefferson and Hemings families. She is the author of the book, Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendants Search for Her Familys Lasting Legacy. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Gayle Jessup White about her book, Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy. She has written and spoken extensively about her work at Monticello, the legacies of slavery, and her familys contributions to American history. I didnt have an epiphany. Bakari Sellers, New York Times best-selling author ofMy Vanishing Country, In her quest to discover the truth behind her family's oral legend of its connection to Thomas Jefferson, Gayle Jessup White reveals the truth of our national history: that 'white' and 'black' are inextricably bound by blood and heritage. And the whole room went into shock, she said. Little pieces were coming together, but not enough for me to understand how we could have been descended. Gayle Jessup White, thank you so much for joining us. Her curiosity about how her Black family could be related to Jefferson drove her to study her familys genealogy. During his time in the White For Teachers And she announced that we're descended from Thomas Jefferson. She has written and spoken extensively about her work at Monticello and currently lives in Virginia. Send a prayer request now, or call 18007007000. She's written and spoken extensively about her work at Monticello. Her international lineage is principally Nigerian and British. This policy or email us at Deputies in Davidson County rushed to help a 69-year-old man they'd found unresponsive in his house following a welfare check. "Shes a totally charming and frank memoirist, and I loved her candid, sometimes difficult to read story,"--Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind on the Best December 2021 Books Today Show. That's why I'm at Monticello. ADRIAN FLORIDO,. The paradox, of course, is that the Founding Father who lyrically articulated Americas grandest expression of equality enslaved more than 600 human beings on his mountaintop plantation, Monticello. Gayle explains, I'm actually descended from her brother, Peter Hemings, who was a cook at Monticello. Download the free myCBN app. So that I'm able to work at Monticello, that I'm able to accentuate because I'm a physical presence of who those people who were in prison there were, then it is the greatest privilege and honor of my life to be able to do so. From First Lady Dolley Madison's sister Lucy Payne Washington's wedding in 1812 to the nuptials of President Joseph Biden and First A State Dinner honoring a visiting head of government or reigning monarch is one of the grandest and most glamorous On January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. God made it possible for you to know. MARTIN: Why do you think it is that you - there was a part of you that always believed it and just had faith in it. Write this story. . He is currently a research assistant with the Georgetown Slavery Archive. You may unsubscribe from these email They were kin, with one family owning the other. And my sister was a little girl when she first heard this from Aunt Peachie. An insatiable desire to learn her familys story landed Gayle Jessup White at Monticello, a place she describes as the epicenter of the American paradox.. And that's the story I heard my sister share with my dad when I was a 13-year-old girl growing up in Washington, D.C. MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: So you had no knowledge of this until she brought it - how did she know about this? White proves that her transformative research and discovery is well worth the journey. Executive Mansion as well as the stories of the people who lived and worked [Her feats] required superhuman persistence. BookPage. Gayle Jessup White is a third generation Washingtonian whose lineage extends as far back as the indigenous people who inhabited the Chesapeake area before the arrival of Europeans. It started when she was a young girl growing up in 1970s Washington D.C. At the time Jefferson was my favorite president because he'd written the Declaration, and I believed and still believe in the principles put forth in that document, says Gayle. They were possessions. Gayle taught journalism at VCU and created training programs for at-risk young adults. Hardcover I'm very comfortable with who I am and take complete ownership of my place in society and as a descendant of enslaved people. The biggest clues came from stories passed down through her father and his family. *This is a promotional service of HarperCollins Feb 17, 2022 Gayle Jessup White, center, is a descendant of President Thomas Jefferson and she is also Sally Hemings' great-grandniece four times over. Thousands of Images covering the History of the White House, Official White House Ornaments, Books & More. I feel that the ancestors pulled me out of my hometown, my beloved hometown, Washington, D.C., to come to Richmond Virginia, which is just 70 miles from Charlottesville, so that I could become a vehicle for them, so that I could express as well as I possibly could what they were not able to. She says, I recognize Jefferson now as being a human being. We are here to help and encourage you! Discover God's peace now. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. How had she heard this? For 20. In her book, The Other Side of Yet, Michelle Hord details the excruciating loss of her beloved seven-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, at the hands of Doctors advise a young mother to abort after they determine her pregnancy is not viable. . It was a privilege and an honor to speak with you. "I couldn't put together in my 13-year-old mind how a little Black kid growing up in Washington, D.C. could be related to the third . She grew up hearing the lore that her family is descended from our countrys third president, Thomas Jefferson. Gayle Jessup White is a communications consultant, writer, and realtor. 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But what I am committed to doing is to raise the visibility of those people who didn't have a voice. She and her husband, retired Time Magazine columnist Jack White Jr have a blended family of four sons, one daughter, and seven granddaughters. Send us comments about our Author Pages. Did any presidents live elsewhere during their administrations? Share your prayer requests, receive prayer and pray for others! And so we had the DNA evidence. Open VISIONS Forum: Gayle Jessup White and Andrew M. Davenport MA'17 A Report from Monticello: Restoring African American Narratives to Thomas Jeffersons Plantation", Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 It serves at a metaphor not just for my family, Gayle says, but for Black families in America to understand - and for all people to acknowledge - that our ancestors helped build this country. Top Stories, 1073 North Benson Road Fairfield, Connecticut 06824 A Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings family explores Americas racial reckoning through the prism of her ancestorsboth the enslaver and the enslaved.Gayle Jessup White had long heard the stories passed down from her fathers family, that they were direct descendants of Thomas Jeffersonlore she firmly believed, though others did not. Gayle Jessup White is the Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's legendary estate. Join She says, We are one people. See where she turns for help on todays 700 Club. Facebook gives people the. REQUESTS, https://d2wawpwx3aybf6.cloudfront.net/hc-audio/9780063028685.mp3, privacy Gayle Jessup White's multilayered autobiography, Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy, is divided into three parts.The first, most directly autobiographical part of Reclamation offers a fascinating look at Black life in a prosperous neighborhood in Washington, D.C., during the 1960s and '70sa neighborhood that has . I'm not, but you are. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his N.C. home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. Poring through photos and documents and pursuing DNA evidence, she learned that not only was she a descendant of Jefferson on his fathers side; she was also the great-great-great-granddaughter of Peter Hemings, Sally Hemingss brother. Digital Audiobook Unabridged The man's famil. Zillow (Canada), Inc. holds real estate brokerage licenses in multiple provinces. 442-H New York Standard Operating Procedures New York Fair Housing NoticeTREC: Information about brokerage services, Consumer protection noticeCalifornia DRE #1522444Contact Zillow, Inc. For Gayle Jessup White, landing the job of Public Relations and Community Engagement Officer at Thomas Jefferson's historic home, Monticello, was more than . In 1993, the Getting Word oral history project at Jeffersons Monticello plantation began identifying descendants and recording their oral histories. The findings: Jeffersons great-great-grandson, Moncure Robinson Taylor, was Whites great-grandfather through a relationship with his familys domestic servant, Whites great-grandmother Rachel Robinson. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. Gayle Jessup White is the Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at Monticello, Thomas Jeffersons legendary estate. 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