Monticello Cabinet

"... knowledge is power, ... knowledge is safety, ... knowledge is happiness"
– Thomas Jefferson to George Ticknor, 1817

Join us this spring for our ongoing "Pursuits of Knowledge" series, featuring programs that explore the past and present to help us think about our modern world. These eclectic offerings include discussions on recent publications, a theatrical performance, and a dynamic conversation about the important role that museums play in sharing women's history.

Pursuits are held 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Howard and Abby Milstein Theater at Monticello's David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center. Small bites, award-winning wine, and seasonal shopping will be available for purchase before each event starting at 5:30 p.m. Come early and enjoy!

Spring 2025 Pursuits

February 4: Dr. Kerri Greenidge on The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family
This program is also part of the Leonard J. Sadosky Memorial Lecture series, an annual event that elevates scholarship through the late Leonard Sadosky. With Leonard's legacy in mind, his friends and family conceived the Sadosky Lecture, which brings an ascendant scholar to Monticello every year to deliver a lecture and engage with the intellectual community here.

March 11: Smithsonian Directors Anthea Hartig and Elizabeth Babcock 
on Women History Makers

April 14: Jonathan Gienapp on Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique

May 6: Jefferson & Adams: A Stage Play by Howard Ginsberg
with Bill Barker, Abigail Schumann, and Sam Goodyear

A select number of tickets for purchase have been reserved for the Monticello Cabinet. If you are interested in attending any of the programs, please contact the Development Office at give@monticello.org or (434) 984-9820. To register directly via Monticello.org, please visit Monticello.org/Pursuits.

What does ancestry mean to us?

Monday, March 3, 2025
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m. | Cocktail reception
6:30 p.m. | Program

Including speakers
Dr. Andrew Davenport, Vice President for Research & Saunders Director of the
Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies
Dr. Maya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History, Harvard University 
Dr. Jane Kamensky, President, Thomas Jefferson Foundation
and
Nicka Sewell–Smith, Senior Story Producer, Ancestry

Decatur House
748 Jackson Pl NW
Washington, DC 20006

Business attire
Please respond by February 14 via this registration form
For questions, contact events@monticello.org or 434.984.9821

THE THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION
invites you to the Peter J. Hatch Spring Cabinet Evening Conversation

Rooted in Heritage:
Exploring Gardening, Landscape Design, and Cultural Preservation

featuring
Brent Leggs
Executive Director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Senior Vice President of the National Trust

Thomas Woltz
Senior Principal and Owner, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

Thursday, March 20, 2025
5:30 p.m. – Reception
6:30 p.m. – Program

Montalto, overlooking Monticello

Business Casual
Parking available at the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center

Please complete this form to register for the
Peter J. Hatch Spring Cabinet Evening Conversation

The favor of your reply is requested by March 6

Questions? Please contact Monticello Events at events@monticello.org | 434.984.9821

About the Speakers

Brent Leggs is the executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust. Envisioned as a social movement for justice, equity, and reconciliation, the Action Fund is promoting the role of cultural preservation in telling the nation’s full history, while also empowering activists, entrepreneurs, artists, and civic leaders to advocate on behalf of African American historic places.

A Harvard University Loeb Fellow and author of Preserving African American Historic Places, which is considered the “seminal publication on preserving African American historic sites” by the Smithsonian Institution, Brent is a national leader in the U.S. preservation movement and the 2018 recipient of the Robert G. Stanton National Preservation Award. His passion for elevating the significance of black culture in American history is visible through his work, which elevates the remarkable stories and places that evoke centuries of black activism, achievement, and community.

Over the past decade, he has developed the Northeast African American Historic Places Outreach Program, and its theme, the Business of Preservation, to build a regional movement of preservation leaders saving important landmarks in African American history. As the project manager for several National Treasure campaigns across the country, he led efforts to create the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument in Alabama, which President Barack Obama designated in January 2017. Other campaign successes include the perpetual protection of cultural monuments like Villa Lewaro, the estate of Madam C. J. Walker in Irvington, New York; Joe Frazier’s Gym in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey; A. G. Gaston Motel in Birmingham; Nina Simone’s birthplace in Tryon, North Carolina; John and Alice Coltrane’s home in Huntington, New York; and more.

Brent has taught at Harvard University, Boston Architectural College and the University of Maryland. He is a Senior Advisor and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites (CPCRS) and is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s graduate program in Historic Preservation.

Thomas L. Woltz, Senior Principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW), leads the firm in the artful creation and revitalization of public landscapes. Working at the intersection of culture and ecology for the sustainability of the public realm, Thomas has led the expansion of NBW to include scientists and historians as integral contributors to the design of projects ranging from restoration ecology in large urban parks to post-industrial sites and educational campuses. Through this collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach, NBW’s designs reveal lost or erased histories in the landscape. The work of NBW now stretches across thirty states and twelve countries.

Thomas was educated at the University of Virginia and holds master’s degrees in landscape architecture and architecture as well as an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. In 2011, Thomas was invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows, among the highest honors achieved in the profession and was named the Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Magazine. He has also received the American Horticultural Society Landscape Design Award and was recognized as one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and with the Land for People Award by the Trust for Public Land. Woltz currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Learn more about the firm and their current projects at www.nbwla.com or on Instagram at @nelsonbyrdwoltz.

About the Peter J. Hatch Spring Evening Conversation

Established in 1993 at the suggestion of Peter J. Hatch, longtime Director of Gardens and Grounds, Monticello launched its Evening Conversation series. Since 2019, the spring Evening Conversation has been named in his honor and is supported by the Peter J. Hatch Evening Conversation Endowment.

Please save the date for 2025 Monticello Cabinet Retreat.

Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, 2025.

More information to come.

Celebrate July 4th at Monticello's annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony with keynote speaker Ken Burns.

Friday, July 4, 2025

Please save the date for a screening of the new "The American Revolution" series with Ken Burns and a private reception on the evening of July 3.

More information to come!

Please save the date for the 2025 Fall Cabinet Evening Conversation.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

More information to come.

In appreciation of your Monticello Cabinet participation, we are happy to reserve complimentary tickets to Monticello for you throughout the year. We suggest that you reach out as early as possible to ensure best tour availability.

Helpful information to provide with your request includes:

Date(s) for your group's visit
Preferred tour time (morning, afternoon, or a specific time, subject to availability)
    We recommend reserving at least 2-3 hours for your visit to the mountaintop
     and the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center
Number of people in your party
Any special interests or needs of the group

Make sure to save time to visit the Farm Table café, our Visitor Center galleries, and The Monticello Shop! Cabinet participants receive 20% off nearly all items in the Shop.

When you are ready to plan your visit, please contact Abby Cable, Development Assistant, at acable@monticello.org | (434) 984-7595.

Cabinet Cocktails with Dr. Jane Kamensky, President, Thomas Jefferson Foundation

The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, VA | January 31, 2024

Fall Evening Conversation
October 20, 2022

The Poetic Justice, an Evening Conversation with The Honorable John Charles Thomas from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello on Vimeo.

Peter J. Hatch Spring Cabinet Evening Conversation
June 8, 2022

Monticello Cabinet Retreat Dinner Program
May 6, 2022