Historians In Awe Over Discovery At Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Property

Hemings’ Descendent’s Mixed Feelings

Gayle Jessup White is Monticello’s Community Engagement Officer and is a descendant of Hemings and Jefferson. She has become an integral part of Monticello’s African American legacy.

White is Hemmings’ great-great-great-great-niece. She learned about her lineage at a young age, yet still has mixed feelings about it. Although she is related to the third president of the United States, and author of the Declaration of Independence, it’s hard for her to look past the fact that he owned over 600 slaves.