COURTESY GAYLE JESSUP WHITE

Gayle Jessup White, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, is keynote speaker at the Sons of the American Revolutions dinner Nov. 11 in Charlotte. White, a former newspaper and television reporter, is author of “Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy,” which debuts Nov. 16.

A descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings will be speaking on Nov. 11.

Gayle Jessup White, a five-times great-granddaughter of Jefferson and four-times great niece to Hemings, Jefferson’s slave, will speak during a dinner sponsored by the Mecklenburg Chapter Sons of the American Revolution at the Hilton Charlotte Executive Park Hotel, 5624 Westpark Drive off I-77.

Reservations are $34 per person and can be purchased on the chapter website via PayPal at www.MecklenburgSAR.org.

White is author of the new book, “Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy,” to be released by HarperCollins on Nov. 16. The book chronicles her journey to overcome barriers to getting at the truth of her lineage, understand her heritage and reclaim it as a black woman in America and reconcile the country’s complicated legacy of racism.

“I grew up without confirmation of this knowledge,” said White, the public relations and community engagement officer at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia, which owns Monticello, the third president’s sprawling plantation. “In fact, I learned when I was 13 years old that we were descended from Jefferson, but we didn’t know how.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., I couldn’t imagine how I could have been related to Jefferson and frankly, I wasn’t taught that Jefferson owned people. Many of us were not, so, I spent some 40-plus years chasing the history and it resulted in my employment at Monticello as well as the book.”

Hemings (1773-1835) was linked to Jefferson as his “concubine,” but her story is often obscured outside that relationship. As a 16-year-old, Hemings negotiated with the future president in Paris, where she was free, to return to Monticello and slavery in exchange for “extraordinary privileges” for herself and freedom for her unborn children. Over the next 32 years Hemings bore and raised four of Jefferson’s children — Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston — and prepared them for their eventual emancipation. She did not negotiate for, or ever receive legal emancipation, although. Instead, Hemings was unofficially freed — or “given her time” — by Jefferson’s daughter Martha after Jefferson’s death in 1826.

White, a Howard University graduate who forged a career as a newspaper and television journalist before joining the Jefferson Foundation as its first Black employee, is an important perspective on American history, said Tom Phlegar, Mecklenburg SAR chapter program chairman.

“An integral part of our Society’s charter is to present unique and interesting community programs on all aspects about the people, places and events of the Revolutionary War,” he said. “When Ms. White accepted our speaking invitation, we were thrilled at the opportunity to bring such an influential and important American patriot to Charlotte.”

White said her research confirmed her assertion that although Black Americans are often cut off from understanding their ancestral roots, the descendants of slaves brought here against their will are an essential part of the nation’s fabric.

“We in fact, help build America, and it’s important that we recognize that and it’s important that other Americans recognize that we are Americans,” she said. “We are Black Americans, and we are Americans, and we need to be proud of that. What Monticello represents, when people come to visit, they’ve got as complete as one can possibly give of the history of that place. And that place is a microcosm of what America was and what America is.”

Listen to the complete interview with Gayle Jessup White on the In Other Words podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud and Spotify.

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