In August, the Getting Word African American History Department commemorated the discovery of six additional people enslaved by Thomas Jefferson with a private dedication ceremony at Monticello’s Contemplative Site.
The individuals unearthed through the department’s ongoing research are:
- Child, born about 1815-1819
- Moses, born in February 1790
- Nanny, born in 1776
- Mary Ann Hern, born in late 1823
- Child, born in 1802
- Robert, born about 1815-1818
Colleagues from Getting Word, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, and the historic site’s Education and Visitor Programs departments discovered these six names in less than a year’s time. They combed through hundreds of documents, some new to researchers and others familiar, for names that remained elusive to researchers’ eyes.
Thomas Jefferson enslaved more than 610 people over his lifetime, but details on their lives outside of the confines of Jefferson’s plantation account books are sparse. In fact, the surnames of roughly three in four people enslaved by Jefferson are still unknown to Monticello researchers.
Jenna Owens, a Getting Word oral historian, adds a bloom to the Contemplative Site. Photo by Kori Price.
“Tracking small details and reading between the lines is critical when researching Black history at Monticello,” Auriana Woods, director of Getting Word, said in a statement. “Traces of evidence can come from anywhere or anyone, and it takes the effort of many hands—descendants, scholars, and interpreters—to bring those lives back into focus.”
Daisa Granger Pascall, a Granger descendant and owner of the Scottsville-based We Grow plant shop, crafted six custom bouquets to represent each of the newly discovered enslaved people’s lives. Comprised of native Virginia blooms, each floral arrangement added vivid color to each individual’s indefinite story.
Flower arrangements by Daisa Pascall, a Granger descendant, for each new name. Photo by Kori Price.
After sharing how these six people were uncovered, Monticello staff intimately involved with each discovery marked each new name on the steel memorial with a flower. Then, scholars, descendants, and ceremony attendees alike were invited to leave blooms by the six new names, names long known to the larger community, or empty spaces intentionally left for future genealogical breakthroughs.
“It’s so amazing to see that we have these empty spaces for a reason,” Jenna Owens, a Getting Word oral historian, told the crowd at the dedication ceremony. “We are going to continue to do this work, so that we can find as many people as we can.”
Opened in 2023, the Contemplative Site at Monticello creates space for visitors to reflect on the legacies of those enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. Located at the end of Mulberry Row, the focal point of Monticello’s enslaved community, the steel memorial gives these 610 enslaved people physical claim to the historic plantation landscape.
An array of native Virginia flowers dot the Contemplative Site following the dedication ceremony.
A zoom-in on the Contemplative Site, focusing on Robert.
Auriana Woods, director of Getting Word, kicks off the naming dedication ceremony with opening remarks.
Basheera Nazeer, a Moses Gillette descendant, performs a freestyle flute solo.
Lucia “Cinder” Stanton, director emeritus and consulting historian for Getting Word, adds a flower to the Contemplative Site.
Learn More:
Monticello Official Press Release
How We Found Their Names
