Thomas Jefferson's DNA (Bonus)
from History As It Happens Hosted by Alan Taylor
Subscribe to listen to the full 28-minute episode (or preview the first 9 minutes). Scientists sequenced Thomas Jefferson’s genome from three strands of his hair for a project led by the Smithsonian Institution to prove that Jefferson fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings. According to The New York Times, researchers used cutting-edge techniques to extract and sequence the DNA, then compared it with DNA samples from 13 living Hemings and Jefferson family descendants. This story is, in some ways, old news. The allegations that Jefferson had an enslaved mistress appeared when he was president in 1802. Books written decades ago by Fawn Brodie and Annette Gordon-Reed delved into their relationship. Yet the story still fascinates, and now has a new chapter for us to talk about. Our guest is Alan Taylor, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chair, Emeritus, in the Department of History at the University of Virginia. He’s the author of Thomas Jefferson’s Education and the new Tower Hill: A Plantation on the Edge of Rebellion. Go to historyasithappens.com to learn more.
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