Thomas Jefferson family group bars slave descendants from membership

Jet, May 27, 2002

An organization for descendants of Thomas Jefferson voted not to extend membership to descendants of Sally Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves reputed to have borne several of his children.

The descendants' group, the Monticello Association, decided to continue to restrict membership to Jefferson's descendants through his daughters Martha and Maria.

During his presidency, Jefferson was accused publicly of fathering several of Hemings' children after his wife died.

Recent DNA tests in 1998 have indicated that a man in Jefferson's family, possibly the president, fathered Hemings' son Eston.

The recent decision was made after a panel of scholars found "insufficient evidence to establish that members of the Hemings family were descendants of Mr. Jefferson." The panel was formed at the request of an association member who opposes admitting descendants of Hemings to the Monticello Association.

The association also rejected a proposal to create a separate organization for descendants of slaves and workers at Monticello, Jefferson's estate.

Shay Banks-Young, a Hemings descendant, said: "We haven't lost anything. We don't have to prove anything. It's a fact. Not being part of the association doesn't remove us from this family. That can't be done."

Another Hemings descendant, Julia Jefferson Westerinen, said about the association's decision: "It doesn't surprise me; it only disappoints me. I pity them. I feel they're locked in the cages of their own prejudice."

During a hearing, Mary Jefferson, a Hemings descendant who is White, told the association: "For (Jefferson) to have a long-standing relationship with one woman offends you because she was part Black, and it scares you to pieces. None of us have any interest in invading your cemetery and making any of you less White. Our only wish is to be acknowledged as lineal descendants of Thomas Jefferson and your cousins."