Even though I’ve been associated with Monticello for more than 25 years, I’m still constantly amazed by the amount of time and effort that went into small details that are easy to overlook when viewing the house as a whole.
There are a lot of stories about Monticello that crept into the lore over the years - mostly after Jefferson died, after all the family had left Monticello, and no one who had lived there during its heyday was around anymore to refute them. One of the most persistent of these stories is one about Jefferson using the Dome Room as a billiard hall.
Who's John Soane, you say, and what's he got to do with Thomas Jefferson? And I say: well, architecture, neoclassicism...something like that.
Today was the grand opening of the new Monticello Visitor Center & Smith Education Center, and we are sooooooo tired right now.
Recently on a weekend trip to D.C. I stopped in at the Library of Congress to visit the Thomas Jefferson's Library exhibit. This reconstructed library of the books Jefferson sold to Congress in 1815 was unveiled on Apr 12 this year as part of the new Library of Congress Experience, exhibits that allow users to interact with primary sources from American history.
An alert patron alerted me to the following: "American Revolution Flags Sell for $17.4 Million."
