Monticello Blog

Almost 400 years after the first enslaved Africans took their first steps in an English colony, a group of Virginians took their own steps to remember the captives and what they endured

Monticello provides an inspiring setting for this song and video, and affirms our commitment to sharing diverse stories in American history.

The Restoration Department recently brought in conservator Andy Compton to restore the composition ornament on the Hall fireplace mantel frieze.

Why the Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom is the key to political freedom and free thought.

Last week our Curatorial and Restoration teams joined forces for an important project: thoroughly cleaning Monticello from floor to ceiling. Affectionally (and accurately) dubbed the “Big Clean,” this annual event helps us preserve the house and prepare for a new year of visitors—but it’s also a lot of work.

On December 28, 1993, Monticello Getting Word historians Lucia "Cinder" Stanton, Dianne Swann-Wright, and Beverly Gray traveled to Chillicothe, Ohio to interview five members of the Pettiford family—three of whom were descendants of Madison Hemings.

The Restoration Department at Monticello undertook a project to repaint the Tea Room for the first time in decades. In order to showcase the nuanced quality of traditional linseed oil based paints like those that would have been applied in Jefferson’s era, we chose to use a custom, traditional linseed-oil paint using hand-ground pigments on all the woodwork in the Tea Room.

It has one particular identifying feature that separates it from other buildings: the roof. Originally covered in Jefferson’s time with chestnut shingles painted off-white, the South Pavilion has the only painted shingle roof on the mountaintop.

“Rebellion to tyrants is Obedience to God” – We have come to think of this impassioned phrase as distinctly Jefferson, but there’s more to this story.