Founding father

Lander, Eric S.; Ellis, Joseph J.

doi:10.1038/23802

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Jefferson biographer Joseph Ellis immediately moved from uncertainty to belief in the relationship (Lander and Ellis, 1998). Unfortunately, the Nature article itself went too far, carrying a misleading headline asserting that 'Jefferson fathered slave's last child', because the research only identified Jefferson's lineage, not Thomas Jefferson himself.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The roots of collective memory: Public knowledge of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

Schuman

Corning

2010

Memory Studies

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Claims that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemings, a slave at Monticello, have received support over the past 35 years from revisionist biographies, DNA testing and other evidence. The claims have also been communicated to the general public through novels, films and other popular media. Both those persuaded by the claims and those critical of them assume that collective memory of Jefferson has been changed importantly, and that a considerable portion of the American public accepts the changes, which also include a new focus on Jefferson’s views and actions regarding slavery more generally. But collective memory at the individual level requires some degree of collective knowledge, and after reviewing the nature of memory of Sally Hemings at the cultural level, we explore the extent to which knowledge and belief about a Jefferson—Hemings liaison and Jefferson’s paternity has spread through the American population. We also consider differences in knowledge by race, education, gender and birth cohort. As part of our investigation, we compare the extent of knowledge of Sally Hemings — and the degree to which it carries hints of uncertainty — with what is true for other names and events from the past, including the name of another woman associated with an even more famous American president.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The roots of collective memory: Public knowledge of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

Schuman

Corning

2010

Memory Studies

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“…Some historians that previously denied the affair changed their position in light of the new evidence (Lander and Ellis 1998). The ad hoc committee of scholars the TJF commissioned to assess the evidence (2000) concluded that there was a "high probability" that Jefferson had a relationship with Hemings.…”

Section: Resolution? 1998 To Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objectivity and its Discontents: Knowledge Advocacy in the Sally Hemings Controversy

Whooley

2008

Social Forces

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“…(1998) obtained DNA samples from living descendants of the two families and analysed the Y‐chromosomes. The final proof of whether the third President of the US himself, or rather one of his male relatives, fathered one or even all five children of Hemmings still remains questionable and has caused some discussion in the medical literature (Lander & Ellis, 1998; Marshall, 1999). Furthermore, the whole story fits nicely into modern public controversies on US Presidents’ sexual behaviour and which even became a political issue.…”

Section: Modern Forensic Science: History Revisited!mentioning

confidence: 99%

Proof of paternity: historical reflections on an andrological-forensic challenge

Albrecht

Schultheiss

2004

Andrologia

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Throughout the history of medicine, there have been difficulties in forensic proving of unsolved paternities, making this a major andrological-forensic challenge. In the Roman empire, children procreated by incest, called 'incestuosi', had no rights at all and other illegitimates, e.g. children born of prostitutes or as a result of adultery, could not assert rights towards the father. Only through the 'corpus iuris civilis' of the Roman Emperor Justinian I (6th century ad) could claims of alimony be made in some cases. In later times, evidence of presumable impotence of a potential father was determined by the congressus, where defined juristical 'sexual fights' had to be held before official matrons, surgeons and priests. Men had to demonstrate their erectile and ejaculatory function. A special significance must be attributed to the microscopical discovery of spermatozoa by the medical student Johann Ham in 1677 and the further investigation by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. After centuries of personally biased and scientifically incorrect concepts of paternity determination, the discovery of the blood grouping system by Karl Landsteiner at the beginning of the 20th century paved the way for sophisticated techniques to prove or rather to disprove paternity. In 1921, Reuben Ottenberg from New York was the first to suggest the application of the system to medico-legal questions, but it was not before the 1950s that legal courts accepted this method. A famous example of disregarding clear blood grouping results was the case of the movie star Charles Chaplin in California in 1946. Modern DNA techniques, today the golden standard in forensic medicine, have also been applied recently for historical investigations. One of the very illustrious examples is the dispute about Thomas Jefferson, third President of the US, fathering a child of one of his slaves.

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Founding father

Cited by 23 publications

References 1 publication

The roots of collective memory: Public knowledge of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

The roots of collective memory: Public knowledge of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

Objectivity and its Discontents: Knowledge Advocacy in the Sally Hemings Controversy

Proof of paternity: historical reflections on an andrological-forensic challenge

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