Announcement
James A. Truscott
President, The Monticello Asscociation
January 27, 2000
On 26 January 2000 the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation released the results of its study of the Thomas Jefferson/SallyHemings relationship. A somewhat abbreviated version of the study may be viewed on the Foundation's web page; click on "other sites" to reach that page.
Last May, the president of the Association (then Bob Gillespie), with Executive Committee approval, created a Membership Advisory Committee to prepare a recommendation defining criteria for determining if a person who is seeking membership in the Association or burial in the graveyard is or is not a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. The committee is chaired by V. R. (“Shack”) Shackelford, III. The committee considers the Foundation's study to be of vital importance in order to reach its recommendation and has been waiting anxiously for its release.
The Foundation has provided us with copies of the full report. Both the Association's Executive Committee and the Membership Advisory Committee will review the report in detail. The Membership Advisory Committee will merge the information contained in the report with that being gleaned from other sources before making its recommendation. Unfortunately this work is far from complete. Although the intent was to have a final recommendation for presentation at the Annual Meeting in May, 2000, it now appears that the committee will be unable to do so. However I fully expect the committee to present an interim report in May with the final report to follow later this year.
I want to emphasize that the Association is determined to
act prudently and responsibly regarding the granting of membership in the Association and
the right to burial in the family graveyard. The criteria we are striving to develop
must apply to everyone, including current members of the Association, other acknowledged
descendants of Mr. Jefferson, the Hemings descendants currently seeking recognition as
acknowledged descendants, and others that may come forward in the future. Therefore it is
absolutely
essential that we perform this study carefully and completely so that it will stand the
test of time.
James J. Truscott, President
The Monticello Association