The non-profit Trust that helped leverage $150 million to refurbish the national Mall says the D.C. monument to Thomas Jefferson will get new scrutiny and changes that stress the founder’s slave-holding past.
An exhibit alongside the Jefferson memorial, which recently went through a refurbishment, will go through changes to reflected the ‘complexity of who he was,’ according to the Trust – a reference to Jefferson’s status as both the author of the Declaration of Independence and someone who owned slaved during his lifetime and didn’t liberate them upon his death.
The updates alongside the Jefferson Memorial, the iconic landmark on D.C.’s Tidal Basin, comes amid nationwide calls to remove confederate monuments following the killing of a protester at a rally in Jefferson’s hometown of Charlottesville.
A small crowd of people tour the Jefferson Memorial after the sun sets on June 4, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The monument is getting updates that likely include reference to Jefferson’s slaveholding past
President Donald Trump compared the issue of monuments to confederate generals like Robert E. Lee to Washington and Jefferson, who were both slaveholders – but who unlike confederates did not take up arms against the nation in defense of slavery.
‘In the coming weeks and months, the physical symbols of American history and democracy will be scrutinized and challenged,’ the group’s president, Catherine Townsend, wrote supporters, the Washington Examiner reported.
‘When that happens, we will work with our partners to ensure the National Mall continues to be a vibrant and relevant place where Americans can learn about our history and imagine our future, together,’ she added.
On the group’s web site, where the Jefferson Memorial restoration project is listed, it simply says: ‘Check back for more information soon!’
In an indication the page was hastily produced, it contains an image of the Lincoln Memorial, not the Jefferson.
The North Lawn of the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial are seen from the roof of the Hay Adams Hotel, on Sunday, May 1, 2016. (Photo By Al Drago/CQ Roll Call)
Another official with the trust spoke specifically about Jefferson, in words that made clear the founder’s slaveholding past would get more prominent attention. ‘We can reflect the momentous contributions of someone like Thomas Jefferson, but also consider carefully the complexity of who he was,’ the official told the paper. ‘And that’s not reflected right now in the exhibits.’
Some cities and towns that have chosen to keep statues to confederates have opted to provide similar explainers rather than tearing down the statues.
President Trump sent out three tweets Thursday morning backing Confederate monuments, which are being taken down in municipalities around the country
A page on the National Trust’s Jefferson Memorial Project page says to ‘check back’ for information. The page shows the Lincoln Memorial for unknown reasons
‘Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” Trump wrote. “You can’t change history, but you can learn from it.”
‘Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!” Trump tweeted last week. “Also the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!”
His tweets followed his remarks blaming ‘both sides’ for the violence in Charlottesville precipitated by a rally that included white supremisists, neo-Nazis, and people opposed to the removal of the Lee statue at the renamed Emancipation Square in Charlottesville.
Trump was distressed by the reaction to his comments on the situation in Charlottesville where he seemed to defend the neo-Nazi white nationalists by spreading the blame on the violent scenes to anti-fascist protesters
Jefferson’s Monticello already has made changes to better reflect his full history – rebuilding slave quarters and including discussions of Sally Hemmings, the slave who traveled with Jefferson and who historians armed with DNA evidence had six children with him.
President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron, walk to board Air Force One prior to departure from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, August 20, 2017, as Trump returns to Washington, DC, following a 17-day vacation at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey
‘The Park Service manages the site, and we’ll always be clear on that — but if we are a partner in help bringing private funding to make sure that they’re able to update that exhibit, that’s where we want to be thoughtful vis a vis what has happened, or, sort of, come to an inflection point in the last week,’ the official further explained. ‘That is where we’ll be their partner in bringing together thought leaders and scholars to make sure that that content is really appropriate and thorough for what should be at that particular site.’
The Trust has sway in the matter in part because the Park Service is starved for cash, with am $11 million deficit.
Washington, whose monument in D.C. is also getting repairs, also owned slaves throughout his lifetime, freeing them upon his death.