Thoma's Jefferson's Virginia
"...wherever people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government."
Thomas Jefferson
The Rotunda burnt down in 1895. Students managed to save this statue of Jefferson, by dragging it out of the building on their mattresses.
Thomas Jefferson was not a practical man. Practical people likely don't author the Declaration of Independence, become the Third President of the United States or found a University while in the 80's. On the other hand, practical people probably don't spend 40 years building their house, die $107,000 in debt, or leave a complicated legacy of slave ownership and suspected sexual assault. He's a tricky guy.
We took two tours related to Jefferson today. One at Monticello, his house and plantation, which he started building in 1768. (Tours are $20-$25 for adults). The other at the University of Virginia, specifically the Academic Village, which he designed and built from 1822-1826. (Free tours daily at 10am and 2pm.) Both tours tried to provide a balanced view of Jefferson, looking at both how he benefited the country and State of Virginia (Louis & Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase, "all men are created equal"), as well as the harsh legacy of slavery and racist views that he embraced. In that regard, Monticello offers a 45-minute tour focused specifically on slavery at Monticello, as well as app for a related, self-guided tour.
Here are a few things we learned.
The Academic Village at UVA
The Lawn at the University of Virginia. Designed by Thomas Jefferson. The two-story buildings had classrooms on the first floor, faculty housing above, and student housing in single story rooms at right and at left.
Students still live in the housing on the Lawn.
The University of Virgina was unique for its time because it was designed as a campus, not just a single building. Jefferson designed a series of interconnected buildings for both classrooms, and student and professor housing. The focal point of the campus was the Rotunda, which housed the library, not the chapel or other religious building, which would have been more common at the time.
Students still live in the lawn housing. About 300 hundred applications are received for 50 spots annually. There are no bathrooms in the rooms, however, so our guide told us we would probably see people walking outside in bathrobes (embroidered) on their way to the showers. We did.
The Rotunda, which housed the library in the early years of the university. It recently was refurbished and now has classrooms and study rooms for students. It's quite posh.
The State of Virginia paid for most of the construction, which was undertaken by slaves, local tradesmen, as well as artisans brought over from Europe.
Study area on the second floor of the Rotunda.
UVA admitted it's first African American students in the 1950's or 1960s, to graduate school programs and only after lawsuits. It admitted women starting in 1970.
UVA has "secret societies"! They aren't that secret though, because they paint their initials all over the campus.
Monticello
Monticello. If it looks familiar it might be because it's on the US nickel.
Jefferson tore down the second floor on Monticello after he returned from France (he was Minister to France for a while). He wanted to incorporate elements of French architecture, a big one of which was that buildings that were multiple stories looked like they were single story structures. Did I mention he was not a practical man?
Monticello front entrance. You can see some evidence of Jefferson's love of gadgets here. The weather vane on the roof is connected to a dial on the ceiling of the porch, making it easily visible to residents — kind of like an early weather app.
Monticello was sold soon after Jefferson's death due to his massive debt. It was purchased for $4,500 by a guy who tried to cultivate silk worms on the property... unsuccessfully. He sold it to Uriah Levy, the first Jewish commodore in the US Navy. The Levy family would preserve and maintain the building (with an interruption during the civil war) for about 100 years before selling it to the foundation that owns it today. Levy felt that the separation of church and state enshrined in the First Ammendment allowed him to rise to positions of power, which would not have otherwise been possible as a Jew.
You can't take pictures inside the house, because most of the furnishings in the building are on loan from museums or private owners, who came to own them after the Jefferson family sold them off to repay debts. But if you want to see inside, the Monticello website offers 360 views of many rooms in the house.
Jefferson is believed to have had six children with Sally Hemmings, a slave originally owned by his father-in-law and later owned by himself.
Slave Quarters, Monticello
Finally, some famous quotes from Thomas Jefferson. He may not have lived up to all the ideals he espoused, but he did give us all something to strive towards.
“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
“The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.”
“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”
“All should be laid open to you without reserve, for there is not a truth existing which I fear, or would wish unknown to the whole world.”