Annette Gordon-Reed on History, Law, and Confirming the Jefferson-Hemings Relationship
By
Interviewed by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Summary
An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and law professor best known for her groundbreaking work confirming Thomas Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings. The piece explores her career trajectory from lawyer to historian, her rigorous historiographical methods, and her approach to writing about race, slavery, and the American founding. Gordon-Reed discusses her intellectual journey, the challenges of writing about enslaved people, and her views on how law and history intersect.
Source
Twitter / XAnnette Gordon-Reed on History, Law, and Confirming the Jefferson-Hemings Relationshiptheparisreview.orgKey quotes
· 3 pulledWe law professors have a certain arrogance— we think we can be experts on anything.
I wanted to write about people who were enslaved, but I didn't want to write about them as victims. I wanted to write about them as people who had agency, who had lives, who had families, who had hopes and dreams.
The DNA evidence was important, but the historical evidence was already there. The DNA just confirmed what the documents had been telling us all along.
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