Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant’s Search for Her Family’s Lasting Legacy

Description

Gayle Jessup White had long heard the stories passed down from her father’s family that they were direct descendants of Thomas Jefferson—lore she firmly believed, though others did not. For four decades the acclaimed journalist and genealogy enthusiast researched her connection to Jefferson. After becoming an International Center for Jefferson Studies Fellow, Jessup White learned the truth. Poring through photos and documents and pursuing DNA evidence, she discovered that not only were she and the Founding Father related, but that she was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Peter Hemings, Sally Hemings’s brother.

In Reclamation, Jessup White chronicles her remarkable journey to definitively understand her heritage and reclaim it. Readers will be pulled in by the stunning lyrical prose, singular authentic voice, and powerful testimony that calls for America’s ongoing racial reckoning. Reclamation offers a compelling portrait of what it means to be a Black woman in America, to pursue the American dream, to reconcile the legacy of racism, and to ensure the nation lives up to the ideals advocated by her legendary ancestor.