Shay Banks-Young

Dates Alive: 1944-2016

Family: Hemings-Madison

Location (at interview): Columbus, OH

Shay Banks-Young was a radio and TV personality and poet in Columbus, Ohio. After genetic testing in 1998 established a connection between Madison Hemings’s brother Eston and Thomas Jefferson, she went on the Oprah Winfrey show and met Eston’s descendant Julia Jefferson Westerinen.  Following that encounter, Banks-Young and Westerinen brought a discussion of racial issues, titled “A Conversation in Black and White,” to audiences around the country.

Ancestry

Related People

Shay Banks-Young

Shay Banks-Young

Shay Banks-Young at Monticello

Shay Banks-Young at Monticello

Shay Banks-Young's mother, Frances Hill Harris

Shay Banks-Young's mother, Frances Hill Harris

Shay Banks-Young's son, W. Douglas Banks II

Shay Banks-Young's son, W. Douglas Banks II

Interview Information

31 May 1996, Columbus, OH
Interviewee: Shay Banks-Young
Interviewer: Beverly Gray

19 July 2000, Charlottesville, VA
Interviewees: Shay Banks-Young, Julia Jefferson Westerinen

Hear Their Stories

“A Family Of Great Dignity” — Mabel Hall Middleton

“I Don’t Put Him On A Pedestal” — Shay Banks-Young

“Color Has Nothing To Do With Family” — Shay Banks-Young

“We Always Passed It Down” — Mabel Hall Middleton

“Here Is How It Goes” — Mabel Hall Middleton

“Our Heritage Has Been Confirmed” — Shay Banks-Young

“We Know That Mabel Is Daring” — Mabel Hall Middleton

“She Was Ridiculed” — Shay Banks-Young and Sally Hemings

“A Very Wonderful Reputation As A Good Man” — Madison Hemings and Shay Banks-Young

“They Cannot Erase Sally Hemings” — Sally Hemings and Shay Banks-Young

“She And I Have Gone Beyond Cousins” — Shay Banks-Young

“I Did Hear Talk About Liberia” — Brown Colbert and Mabel Hall Middleton

“Our Heritage Is Not Based On The Shadow Of Thomas Jefferson” — Shay Banks-Young