Monticello Podcasts

Trailblazer. Newspaper publisher. Civil rights titan. Meet William Monroe Trotter, one of the most influential descendants of Monticello’s enslaved community—and someone who too many people have never heard of. In this episode we discuss Trotter’s life, legacy, and determined (but ultimately unsuccessful) effort to stop the release of the notoriously racist 1915 film “Birth of a Nation.”

What was a visit to Jefferson's home back in day? In her diary from 1802, prominent Washington, D.C., socialite and diarist, Anna Maria Thornton, described a difficult trek up Monticello mountain and her disappointment in the conditions she found there. Monticello guide Danna Kelley tells the story with help from two colleagues.

Monticello's Kyle Chattleton discusses one of the few moments in Monticello’s history where an enslaved individual was freed by Jefferson. We can only imagine Robert Hemings’s feelings after being released from Jefferson on Christmas Eve 1794, but historical documents show that Jefferson was not too happy about the manumission.

Monticello Guide Ashley Hollinshead discusses what Jefferson thought about slavery and Africans and African-Americans, and how these ideas have and continue to shape the many legacies of racism.

Former Monticello Guide Katy Gehred tells the story of Ann Cary Randolph, who married an alcoholic (who later got into a fight with Thomas Jefferson Randolph in downtown Charlottesville).

In 1995, Alan Alda was the featured speaker at a special dinner on Monticello's West Lawn. Fresh from a filming trip to China for PBS's Scientific American Frontiers, the award-winning actor related his efforts to look for "clues into [Jefferson's] character" and made connections between efforts by a Chinese scientist to produce a high-yield strain of rice and Jefferson's commitment to the science...

In the wake of the release of U.S. diplomatic cables on Wikileaks, Eric Johnson, Monticello's New Media Specialist, talks with Jean Bauer, creator of "The Early American Foreign Service Database," about what is was like for Jefferson and his successors to communicate with America's ambassadors and consuls abroad. (Added to Monticello Podcasts on Dec. 2, 2010. Approx. 25 min.)

Contemporary visitor accounts of Thomas Jefferson and Monticello offer interesting insights on the former president in his retirement years. Ellen Hickman, assistant editor at the Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, outlines a project underway to gather and publish visitor accounts, shares some amusing anecdotes from the collection, and discusses how studying visitor descriptions alters...

Writer and historian Andrea Wulf talks about her recent book, The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession, that traces the origin of the English country garden through the collaborative effort between two men and two countries: American farmer, John Bartram, and London cloth merchant, Peter Collinson. (Added to Monticello Podcasts on Aug 6, 2009. Approx. 44 min. )

Rick Britton, author of Jefferson: A Monticello Sampler and part-time Monticello interpreter, details Jefferson's involvment in the identification of Megalonyx jeffersonii, a extinct ground sloth whose bones were discovered in a cave in Virginia.

Nancy Carter Crump, a culinary historian and author of Hearthside Cooking: Early American Southern Cuisine, dispels the myth that overcooking vegetables was originally part of early southern cooking and highlights some surprising uses of herbs and spices of the early Nineteenth Century.

Nancy Carter Crump, a culinary historian and author of Hearthside Cooking: Early American Southern Cuisine, will parallel developments in Colonial Southern foodways with those of our social and political culture. She will share some of the methods, accepted beliefs, and misconceptions of the time and also talk about the influence of our early Native American, European and enslaved communities. .

A sample from a new CD that attempts to recreate some specific examples of music at Monticello. Violinist David Sariti discusses Jefferson's ability with the violin and introduces Vivaldi's Violin Sonata, Opus 2, No. 3 before performing its first two movements, the Andante and Corrente (Allegro). In addition to Sariti, the artists include: Theresa Goble (Mezzo-Soprano), Andrew Mullen (Bass-Bariton...

A look at the role religion played in the presidential election of 1800, which pitted Thomas Jefferson against John Adams.

A discussion of the role Virginia's religious dissenters played in the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

UVA professor Larry Sabato talks about his book that offers 23 changes to the U.S. Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson's letter to James Madison of December 20, 1787, containing some his thoughts on the newly drafted U.S. Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson's letter to William Stephens Smith of November 13, 1787, containing some his thoughts on the newly drafted U.S. Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson's letter to John Adams of November 13, 1787, containing some his thoughts on the newly drafted U.S. Constitution.

A look at three letters by Thomas Jefferson with his thoughts the U.S. Constitution as drafted by the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

A report on an ailing poplar tree next to Jefferson's house that is believed to have been planted during Jefferson's lifetime.

In this excerpt from a recent talk, Jim Sofka, a former fellow at Monticello's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, lists the Embargo's disastrous effects of the U.S. economy and explains why it's considered the greatest failure of Jefferson's Presidency.

On August 22, 2007, Bill Barker, who portrays Thomas Jefferson for Colonial Williamsburg, gave a talk at Monticello on Interpreting Thomas Jefferson. In this excerpt, Mr. Barker lists the 10 questions frequently asked questions that Mr. Jefferson receives from adults and children.

In late August 2007, Dan Jordan, President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, joined Coy Barefoot on WINA's Charlottesville–Right Now! to talk the past, present and future of Monticello. Of special note is Monticello's award-winning website, which Jordan call an amazing outreach tool for the historic site.

A look at Monticello's Tours for Children and their Families, a special guided tour of Monticello's main house geared toward kids ages 6-11.