News Releases

Monticello is pleased to announce three appointments to the organization’s leadership team: Laura Nichols as Vice President for External Relations, Alexandra Early Carter as Chief Development Officer, and Dr. Andrew M. Davenport as the Vice President for Research and Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies.

The National Science Foundation and The Conservation Fund have awarded a combined total of $354,000 to Monticello’s Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS).

Ballerina, author, and philanthropist Misty Copeland will be the keynote speaker during the 2024 Naturalization Ceremony on July 4.

On April 12, the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present their highest honors, the 2024 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals, to a trio of national luminaries in the areas of Architecture, Citizen Leadership, and Law.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello announced the launch of a new, limited-time Revolutionary Women at Monticello Tour, which will invite visitors to explore the house and grounds through the eyes of women, both free and enslaved, who shaped the lives of so many at Monticello and beyond.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, welcomed two new trustees to its Board: Dr. Danielle Allen of Harvard University and the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, former United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Fourth Circuit.

Castle Hill Cider is pleased to announce its second release of Orchard Select, a special hard cider made in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Jane Kamensky, Ph.D., as the new President at Monticello. Kamensky will assume her new role on January 15, 2024.

On April 13, the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present their highest honors, the 2023 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals, to a trio of national and international luminaries in the areas of Architecture, Citizen Leadership and Law.

Leslie Greene Bowman has announced she will conclude her leadership at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello as of April 30. Under her stewardship, Monticello has welcomed millions of guests, expanded scholarship, modernized across digital and physical platforms and multiplied the donor base sixfold.

On April 13, the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present their highest honors, the 2022 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals in Architecture, Citizen Leadership, and Law. This year’s awardees are, respectively: Kenneth Frampton, Sherrie Rollins Westin, Stephen Breyer.

Thomas Jefferson was only 33 years old when he wrote those immortal words, now among the most famous in the English language. And those were radical words in 1776. For a nation to justify its existence and governance on the premise of universal rights was new. But there were flaws in that promise of liberty that haunt us to this day.

The University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present the 2021 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture to acclaimed architect Francis Kéré, known for his pioneering communal approach to design and commitment to sustainability.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private, nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, announced new leadership for its Board of Trustees as of January 2021. Melody C. Barnes assumed the chairmanship of the board, and technology entrepreneur Tobias Dengel became vice chair.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent federal agency and one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States, recently awarded a $75,000 Historic Places Planning Grant to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. This competitive, merit-based grant is part of a special NEH initiative advancing civic education and commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private, nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, announces the election of Annette Gordon-Reed and Tobias Dengel to its Board of Trustees, effective January 1, 2020.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private, nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, announces new leadership for its board of trustees. Effective January 2019, Jon Meacham will assume the role of chairman of the board. The foundation also announced that Melody C. Barnes was elected vice chair of the board and began serving in that capacity on June 15, 2018 - July 2, 2018

June 7, 2018 - On June 16, in conjunction with national Juneteenth events, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello will welcome a gathering of descendants of enslaved families, commemorate 25 years of its Getting Word Oral History Project and unveil new exhibits and restored spaces, including a groundbreaking exhibit on Sally Hemings.

May 31, 2018 - Monticello is pleased to announce that Andrew Tisch, prominent businessman, civic leader and co-author of a new book on the American immigrant experience, will deliver the keynote address at its 56th annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony—the nation’s oldest continuous naturalization ceremony held outside a courtroom. The event also celebrates the 242nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

April 9, 2018 - The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello two major grants, making possible greater accessibility to new archaeological research and a landmark exhibition on the legacy of slavery.

March 1, 2018 - On March 19-21, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the University of Virginia and the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS) will jointly sponsor a public forum at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and an international conference at UVA on interpreting the history of slavery and its legacies, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, and Heritage.

February 26, 2018 - On April 13, the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present their highest honors, the 2018 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals in Architecture, Citizen Leadership and Law.