Slave images unearthed from the ‘Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello” exhibit at the Smithsonian

Historical images that detail the lives of six slave families from the “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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Historian Lonnie G. Bunch III presents “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty,” an exhibition of artifacts from the Smithsonian's collections and from excavations at Jefferson’s Virginia plantation.

/ Michael R. Barnes, Smithsonian Institution, NMAAHC (Images Number)

In 1796, Jefferson made Isaac Granger Jefferson Monticello’s overseer. He was the only enslaved man to rise to that position and to receive an annual wage. He ran Monticello’s blacksmith’s shop (from 1783) and the nailery (from 1794) until his death in 1799.

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and was minister to France, secretary of state, vice president and president of the United States.

Collection of The New-York Historical Society

Ann-Elizabeth Fossett Isaacs became free in 1837 through her family’s efforts and moved permanently to southern Ohio in 1850.

Ebony magazine

Sold from the auction block at Monticello in 1827 at age 11, the Rev. Peter Fossett became a prominent caterer in Cincinnati and later founded the First Baptist Church in Cumminsville, Ohio.

Wendell P. Dabney, Cincinnati’s Colored Citizens

Frederick Madison Roberts was a descendant of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson and the first African-American member of the California legislature.

Courtesy of Patricia Roberts

Jefferson kept the names of the more than 600 slaves he owned through the years in the “Farm Book.” This is page 30.

Massachusetts Historical Society

Objects belonging to enslaved residents of Mulberry Row, including toothbrushes, thimbles, and a writing slate and pencil.

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Inc.

Objects belonging to enslaved residents of Mulberry Row, including a folding knife, dominoes, and a jaw harp.

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Inc.

This armchair was most likely made by John Hemmings in the Monticello joinery.

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Inc.

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Slave images unearthed from the ‘Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello” exhibit at the Smithsonian

Historical images that detail the lives of six slave families from the “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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