The Life of Sally Hemings
This exhibit relies on the words of Sally Hemings’s and Thomas Jefferson’s son, Madison, to explore her life and the legacy of freedom she achieved for her family. (Links to online companion page.)
The South Wing connects the South Pavilion to the all-weather passage that runs under the main house and contained the post-1809 kitchen, cook’s room, smokehouse, living quarters for enslaved workers and the dairy. All South Wing Exhibits are included in the price of admission.
1770 South Pavilion and Martha Jefferson
Learn about Martha Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s wife during the earliest years of Monticello. She passed away at the age of 33 after she and Jefferson had been married ten years.
Getting Word Oral History Project
The Getting Word Oral History Project documents the oral histories of descendants of people enslaved at Monticello. This exhibit tells the history of Monticello and American slavery through the stories of its survivors and their families.
Post-1809 Kitchen
Monticello’s later kitchen incorporated all the newest and best cooking technologies available at the time.
Cook's Room
One of very few surviving slave quarters at Monticello, several enslaved people lived in The Cook’s Room. Enslaved chef Peter Hemings lived in this quarter for some time before another enslaved chef, Edith Fossett and her family, moved in.
Granger/Hemings Kitchen
The newly excavated and restored first kitchen of Monticello reveals more about the lives of Ursula Granger, Peter Hemings, James Hemings, and other enslaved cooks and chefs who helped create early American cuisine.
Dairy
Learn about the processes for making cheese, cream, and butter two hundred years ago.
Smokehouse
Jefferson ordered the relocation of Monticello’s Smokehouse from Mulberry Row in 1802. The new Smokehouse joined other food storage and preparation areas in the South Wing. Enslaved workers butchered and preserved meats through salting and smoking during winter, when the cold minimized spoilage.
Learn about: Martha Wayles Jefferson, Sally Hemings and her family, Ursula Granger, James Hemings, Peter Hemings, Edith Fossett, six enslaved families and their descendants.