History by a Hair: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, & Solving a 200-Year-Old Mystery

About this event

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]In 2011, staff at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History discovered what appeared to be a hair—light red, possibly human—pressed between the pages of the Thomas Jefferson Bible. That hair sparked an unprecedented scientific quest: determining if modern genomics could recover Jefferson’s DNA and finally resolve the most divisive and enduring question surrounding his life—the paternity of the children of Sally Hemings, one of hundreds of African Americans enslaved by Thomas Jefferson.

For over two centuries, the Jefferson–Hemings controversy has shaped American debates about race, power, slavery, and the mythology of the Founding Fathers. Historians have argued fiercely. Descendants have lived with uncertainty. DNA technology in the 1990s brought us closer, but not all the way; the evidence remained incomplete. Until now. In this riveting narrative—part scientific detective story, part historical epic—Richard Kurin, distinguished scholar and museum official, leads readers through the fifteen-year-long genomic investigation conducted with leading DNA scientists, archaeologists, genealogists, forensic experts, and Jefferson and Hemings’ descendants across the country.

The result is the first conclusive, scientifically validated answer to a question that has reverberated since the eighteenth century—an answer that settles the historical record, deepens our understanding of Jefferson, honors generations of family oral history, and asks America to confront the full complexity of its origins.

Presented by Dr. Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large.

Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson, White House Collection, 1962.395.1 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1628540209988{border-top-width: 15px !important;border-right-width: 15px !important;border-bottom-width: 15px !important;border-left-width: 15px !important;padding-top: 15px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: #ededaf !important;border-radius: 5px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1673536413544{margin-bottom: 15px !important;}”] Join us in-person or online!

If you plan to attend in person at the Museums, tickets are available on the day of the lecture in the Welcome Center.

Members: FREE

Springfield residents: $4

Nonmembers: $4

To attend via ZOOM, please register in advance.[/vc_column_text] Online Registration