History

by Laura Voisin George My Spring 2012 history seminar, “The Worlds of William Short,” confronted U.Va. students with the words of Thomas Jefferson and William Short, his private secretary and close friend, and challenged them to learn what these words do – and do not – mean.  The students worked with microfilms of Short’s correspondence, […]

by Lisa Francavilla While reading just about anything these days, it’s not unusual to come across a Jefferson quote –  sometimes real, sometimes not – but how often do you get what appears to be a complete Jefferson letter in the mail? While serving as president, in November 1803, Jefferson wrote from Washington to ask […]

A day doesn’t go by that I don’t hear or see Thomas Jefferson referenced for some piece of wisdom concerning a modern problem. Jefferson, who spent so much time working against the “dead hand of the past,” would likely be alternately pleased and chagrined by the modern fixation on his words. Far be it from […]