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Jefferson's Daughters
Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America
1 of 1 copy available
FINALIST FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON PRIZE • “Beautifully written . . . To a nuanced study of Jefferson’s two white daughters, Martha and Maria, [Kerrison] innovatively adds a discussion of his only enslaved daughter, Harriet Hemings.”—The New York Times Book Review
Thomas Jefferson had three daughters: Martha and Maria by his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Harriet by his slave Sally Hemings. Although the three women shared a father, the similarities end there. Martha and Maria received a fine convent school education while they lived with their father during his diplomatic posting in Paris. Once they returned home, however, the sisters found their options limited by the laws and customs of early America. Harriet Hemings followed a different path. She escaped slavery—apparently with the assistance of Jefferson himself. Leaving Monticello behind, she boarded a coach and set off for a decidedly uncertain future.
For this groundbreaking triple biography, history scholar Catherine Kerrison has uncovered never-before-published documents written by the Jefferson sisters, as well as letters written by members of the Jefferson and Hemings families. The richly interwoven stories of these strong women and their fight to shape their own destinies shed new light on issues of race and gender that are still relevant today—and on the legacy of one of our most controversial Founding Fathers.
Praise for Jefferson’s Daughters
“A fascinating glimpse of where we have been as a nation . . . Catherine Kerrison tells us the stories of three of Thomas Jefferson’s children, who, due to their gender and race, lived lives whose most intimate details are lost to time.”—USA Today
“A valuable addition to the history of Revolutionary-era America.”—The Boston Globe
“A thought-provoking nonfiction narrative that reads like a novel.”—BookPage
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 30, 2018 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780525492450
- File size: 491205 KB
- Duration: 17:03:20
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Narrator Tavia Gilbert candidly delivers the story of Thomas Jefferson's daughters, Martha, Maria, and Harriet, in this meticulously researched profile. Gilbert's thoughtful delivery movingly recounts their lives in Paris and early America. His white daughters, Martha and Maria, lived privileged lives yet were undervalued due to their gender. Harriet, his black daughter, was born into slavery but was raised in the family home. At age 14, Jefferson made her work at his mill, where she was exposed to the harshness of slave life. Harriet escaped Monticello around age 21, never to return. This is a well-produced work, although Kerrison's intricate details on certain topics can overshadow the main subjects. S.H. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from October 30, 2017
Kerrison (Claiming the Pen), associate professor of history at Villanova University, richly textures this tale of the lives of Thomas Jefferson’s three daughters. Two daughters, Martha and Maria, came from Jefferson’s marriage to Martha Wayles Skelton. The other, Harriet, was born to the enslaved Sally Hemings. Kerrison demonstrates her deep understanding of post-Revolution America, marshaling an impressive array of sources to illustrate the possibilities for “women, free blacks, and slaves” in the new country. Jefferson’s presence looms throughout, but Kerrison foregrounds the daughters’ stories, brilliantly recapturing the patterns of Southern women’s lives. Martha and Maria lost their mother at an early age and bounced from place to place before settling into homes of their own as married women. Harriet’s story is the most captivating and reveals much about the web of family connections woven in bondage. Harriet never knew Maria and Martha ignored Harriet at Monticello. When Harriet turned 14, Jefferson put her to work in Monticello’s weavers’ cottage. But in 1822, he facilitated Harriet’s departure to Washington, after which she passed as a white woman. Incisive and elegant, Kerrison’s book is at once a fabulous family story and a stellar work of historical scholarship. Maps & illus. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary.
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