Thomas Jefferson Foundation

{{Short description|American historical foundation}}

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, originally known as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1923 to purchase and maintain Monticello, the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.{{Cite news|title=UNITE TO BUY MONTICELLO.: Two Societies Merge as Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.|date=April 5, 1923|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|103204997}}}} The Foundation's initial focus was on architectural preservation, with the goal of restoring Monticello as close to its original appearance as possible. It has since grown to include other historic and cultural pursuits and programs such as its Annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. It also publishes and provides a center for scholarship on Jefferson and his era.

History

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was launched in 1923 as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/about/thomas-jefferson-foundation-chronology|title=Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chronology|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-09-26}} It named Stuart G. Gibboney as its first president on April 28, 1923, shortly after the Foundation's inauguration earlier that month in New York City.{{Cite news|title=GIBBONEY HEADS PLAN TO HONOR JEFFERSON: Named Chairman of Memorial Foundation--Washington Woman on Board.|date=April 29, 1923|newspaper=The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|149437463}}}} The Foundation's constitution had two primary goals:

{{Blockquote|text=To purchase, preserve and maintain Monticello, at Charlottesville, in the State of Virginia, as a national memorial, so that it may be forever retained as a shrine, and reverently transmitted to future generations as a monument to the genius and patriotism of Thomas Jefferson, and a constant reminder of the principles inscribed in the Declaration of Independence. To foster and preserve the ideals of American liberty and the republican form of government; and to keep alive the name and memory of Thomas Jefferson, as the apostle of human freedom.|sign=Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Inc.{{cite web|title=Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Archives - Series I (1923-1984)|url=http://archiveguides.monticello.org/?p=collections/findingaid&id=5&q=&rootcontentid=6909|publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation|access-date=12 October 2016}}|source=}}

Monticello had a contract purchase price of $500,000, the first $100,000 of which the Foundation paid by December 1923 to the property's prior owner, Jefferson Monroe Levy.{{Cite news|title=FIRST $100,000 IS PAID ON JEFFERSON'S HOME: $400,000 More Needed to Apply to Purchase Price of Monticello, and $500,000 as Endowment Fund. Campaign Managers Directing Efforts to Complete Payments.|date=December 10, 1923|newspaper=The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|149432884}}}} This initial payment was a landmark for the Foundation, as the transaction allowed it to assume the title to Monticello.{{Cite news|title=MONTICELLO OWNER SIGNS CONTRACT TO SELL FOR $500.000: Foundation Opens Campaign for Funds to Purchase Jefferson's Home. MILLION TO BE ASKED; HALF AS ENDOWMENT Mansion of Author of Declaration to Be Preserved as National Shrine. House Noted for Beauty. Details of Contract.|date=July 15, 1923|newspaper=The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|149290826}}}} The Foundation also sought to raise $500,000 for an endowment fund, which would be used to maintain Monticello and create plans that would "foster the ideals of Jefferson".{{Cite news|title=GOVERNORS TO PUSH MONTICELLO DRIVE: Many State Executives Will Aid in Campaign to Purchase Jefferson Home. PRICE SET AT $1,000,000 Fund Will Be Sufficient to Main- tain Estate of Famous Virginian.|date=April 7, 1923|work=New York Times|id = {{ProQuest|103205486}}}} In moving beyond the planning stages and taking physical possession of Monticello, the Foundation surpassed prior attempts by similar organizations and groups in the preceding half-century that never got beyond preliminary negotiations. The Washington Post noted that the Foundation's successful payment "has set to rest any misgivings that may have existed that the foundation's plan would end without result".

In 1909, Maud Littleton, the wife of Martin W. Littleton, visited Monticello. Following her visit, Littleton launched a nationwide antisemitic campaign to have Monticello expropriated from Jefferson Levy. Littleton took her campaign to the press as well as to Congress, with two bills to expropriate Monticello from Levy failing to pass. Littleton used veiled antisemitic remarks to disparage Levy, such as calling him an "alien", "oriental", and a "rank outsider" who had allegedly altered the character of "the house that Jefferson built and made sacred." Littleton also made attempts to purchase Monticello. Angered by Littleton's antisemitism, Levy refused to sell his property. However, due to strained finances, Levy reluctantly sold Monticello to a foundation. Maud Littleton became the organization's first executive director. For the next 60 years, mention of the Levy family was erased by the foundation, despite the fact that Levy's mother Rachel is buried at Monticello. Neglected for decades, Rachel's grave was refurbished in 1985, under the foundation's new executive director Daniel Jordan.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-lost-story-of-how-a-jewish-family-saved-thomas-jeffersons-famous-home-twice/ |title=The lost story of how a Jewish family saved Thomas Jefferson’s famous home – twice |publisher=The Times of Israel |accessdate=2025-03-29}}{{cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/exhibits-events/livestreams-videos-and-podcasts/crusade-for-monticello-ichepod/ |title=A Crusade for Monticello |publisher=Monticello.org |accessdate=2025-03-29}}{{cite web|url=https://www.isjl.org/virginia-charlottesville-encyclopedia.html |title=Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Charlottesville, Virginia |publisher=Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities |accessdate=2025-03-29}}

The Foundation was officially launched at the University of Virginia, which Jefferson founded. During 1924 the Foundation opened Monticello to the general public and began repair and maintenance work on the property, which had fallen into disrepair.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fayobserver.com/living/celebration-at-monticello/article_e3eb1790-613b-59d9-8e83-9b50d10db8bd.html|title=Celebration At Monticello|last=Hasty|first=Frances|date=January 17, 1993|website=Fay Observer|access-date=2016-09-26}} That same year architectural historian Fiske Kimball was named as the Chairman of the Restoration Committee and would serve in a leading role in Monticello's restoration until his death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/about/fiske-kimball|title=Fiske Kimball|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-11-09}} In the following year the National Education Committee was formed to "promote restoration of Monticello and to spread Jeffersonian ideals".

In the immediate years following its launch the Foundation became active in various historic pursuits and in 1929 elected Thomas Edison as the first "Nation's Guest of Honor" in recognition of his service in "science, art, education, literature, or government."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/edis/blogs/Featured-Artifact-Certificate-by-Maxfield-Parrish.htm|title=Featured Artifact: Certificate by Maxfield Parrish - Thomas Edison National Historical Park|last=Harris-Rico|first=Joan|date=August 6, 2013|website=U.S. National Park Service|access-date=2016-09-26}} A year later this recognition went to Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd.

The Foundation paid off its first mortgage in 1928. Although it experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression, the Foundation was officially debt free by 1940. In 1960 it moved its headquarters from New York to Monticello, where it has remained. Two years later the Foundation launched its Annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony, which is still held today and is considered to be the "oldest continuous naturalization ceremony held outside of a courtroom in the United States".{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/2015-independence-day-celebration-monticello-featuring-terry-mcauliffe|title=2015 Independence Day Celebration at Monticello featuring Terry McAuliffe|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-10-05|archive-date=2015-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919180353/https://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/2015-independence-day-celebration-monticello-featuring-terry-mcauliffe|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|title=The Great Birthday of Our Republic: Celebrating Independence Day at Monticello|editor-last=Malkin|editor-first=Laura|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|year=2003|isbn=1882886224}} During January 2000 the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation changed its name to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Monticello|title=Monticello|last=Johnson|first=Emilie|date=February 1, 2013|website=Encyclopedia Virginia|access-date=2016-10-05}}

=Restoration of Monticello=

Efforts to restore Monticello began shortly after the Foundation's purchase, and in 1924 work began on the main house's supporting stone walls. The terraces and roof were also repaired and the house was repainted. The Foundation also began restoring Monticello's gardens and invited the Garden Club of America (GCA) to give advice. The GCA would later assist with funding for the restoration of the Kitchen Road, which leads from the main house to Mulberry Row.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs161/1101987988454/archive/1124999190300.html|title=Featured Historic Garden: The Kitchen Road Project at Monticello|last=Crosby|first=Candy|date=2016|website=Garden Club of America|access-date=November 2, 2016}}

In 1927 Monticello's Great Clock was repaired and during the following year the foundation restored the slave quarters under the south terrace. In the following years the Foundation restored more of the plantation as closely to its original state as possible. It has bought additional land that formerly belonged or pertained to Jefferson, including the Shadwell plantation where the President was born (purchased in 1963), one of his original farms, Tufton (purchased in 1968), and [https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/montalto Montalto] (acquired in 2004).{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/shadwell|title=Shadwell|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-11-02}} The Foundation now owns roughly 2,500 acres of Jefferson's original 5,000-acre estate at Monticello, of which it has put 1,060 acres under permanent preservation easements.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/2005seasement.pdf|title=Foundation Places 1,060 Acres Under Protective Easement|date=2005|website=Monticello Newsletter|access-date=November 8, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2004/12/24/jefferson-land-to-remain-intact/30768778007/|title=Jefferson land to remain intact|date=December 24, 2004|newspaper=Wilmington Star News|access-date=2016-11-09}}

In 1987 Monticello, along with the University of Virginia, were jointly inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in recognition of their "outstanding universal value."{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/442|title=Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en|access-date=2017-01-11}} This marks Monticello as the only presidential home in America on the World Heritage List.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/about/monticello-unesco-world-heritage-site|title=Monticello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2017-01-11}}

Awards and recognition programs

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation has overseen several contests and awards programs, most notably the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals, which are granted jointly with the University of Virginia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/about/thomas-jefferson-foundation-medals|title=Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-09-28}} These medals are given out in recognition of distinguished contributions in the fields of Architecture, Law, Citizen Leadership, and Global Innovation and are the highest honor granted by the University of Virginia, which does not bestow honorary degrees.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh7ecV24_uAC&q=%22Thomas+Jefferson+Medal%22&pg=PA186|title=Almanac of Architecture & Design 2006|last1=Cramer|first1=James P.|last2=Yankopolus|first2=Jennifer Evans|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Greenway Communications|isbn=9780975565421|pages=186|language=en}}

The first Thomas Jefferson Medal was awarded for the field of architecture to Mies van der Rohe in 1966.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/about/recipients-thomas-jefferson-foundation-medal-architecture|title=Recipients of Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-09-28}} The Foundation and the University of Virginia began awarding medals for law in 1977, followed by medals in Citizen Leadership in 2007 and Global Innovation in 2016.

Other recipients of the award include federal judge John Gleeson (Law, 2016), Jaime Lerner (Architecture, 1997), Joseph Neubauer (Citizen Leadership, 2010), and Gordon Moore (Global Innovation, 2016).

Exhibits and other work

The Foundation has coordinated with several institutions for exhibits that focus on the history of Thomas Jefferson and Monticello.{{Cite web|url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-s-national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-and-monticello-explore-j|title=Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and Monticello to Explore Jefferson and Slavery|date=September 1, 2011|website=Smithsonian|access-date=2016-09-28}} In 2012 the Foundation partnered with the National Museum of African American History and Culture for the exhibit "Jefferson and Slavery at Monticello: Paradox of Liberty", which was hosted at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/arts/design/smithsonian-and-monticello-exhibitions-on-jeffersons-slaves.html|title=Smithsonian and Monticello Exhibitions on Jefferson's Slaves|last=Rothstein|first=Edward|date=2012-01-26|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-09-28}} The following year the exhibit was shown in Atlanta, St. Louis, and Philadelphia under the title "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: How the Word Is Passed Down."{{Cite web|url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/entertainment/liberty-and-slavery-at-monticello/nT9TF/|title=Liberty and slavery at Monticello|last=Bentley|first=Rosalind|date=January 29, 2013|website=AJC.com|access-date=2016-09-28}}

= Slavery at Monticello: Life and Work at Mulberry Row =

During 2012 the Foundation launched "Slavery at Monticello: Life and Work at Mulberry Row", a tour that examined the titular Mulberry Row, a plantation path that served as the "dynamic, industrial hub of Jefferson's 5,000-acre agricultural enterprise".{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/what-was-mulberry-row|title=What was Mulberry Row?|last=Dierksheide|first=Christa|date=May 5, 2011|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-09-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.c-ville.com/New_exhibit_will_shed_light_on_slavery_at_Monticellospan_classApple_tab_span_stylewhite_space_pre_span/#.V-vMa_krLcs|title=New exhibit will shed light on slavery at Monticello|last=Morris|first=Giles|date=2011-12-13|website=C-VILLE Weekly|language=en-US|access-date=2016-09-28}} Three years later the Foundation, along with developer Bluecadet Interactive,{{Cite web|url=http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_e0064eae-eed3-11e4-a657-6fe906494d3b.html|title=Monticello unveils completed first stages of major restoration project|last=Suarez|first=Chris|date=April 29, 2015|website=Richmond Times Dispatch|access-date=2016-09-28}} released an app by the same name for mobile devices.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/02/428126511/an-app-tells-painful-stories-of-slaves-at-monticellos-mulberry-row|title=An App Tells Painful Stories Of Slaves At Monticello's Mulberry Row|last=Clozel|first=Lalita|date=August 2, 2015|website=NPR|access-date=2016-09-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/columns-blogs/jane-ann-morrison/monticello-owns-its-past|title=Monticello owns up to its past|last=Morrison|first=Jane Ann|date=2016-04-14|website=Las Vegas Review-Journal|access-date=2016-09-28}} The app received a review from Common Sense Media and was an honoree at the 2016 Webby Awards in the field of Mobile Sites & Apps, Education & Reference.{{Cite web|url=https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/slavery-at-monticello-life-and-work-at-mulberry-row|title=Slavery at Monticello: Life and Work at Mulberry Row (review)|last=Kievlan|first=Patricia Monticello|website=Common Sense Media|date=28 August 2015|access-date=2016-09-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://webbyawards.com/winners/2016/mobile-sites-apps/general-sites-apps/education-reference/slavery-at-monticello-life-and-work-at-mulberry-row/|title=Slavery at Monticello: Life and Work at Mulberry Row|website=The Webby Awards|access-date=2016-09-28}}

In 2013 the Foundation received a $10 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=10000000|start_year=2013}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) gift from David Rubenstein, part of which it used to reconstruct slave quarters on Mulberry Row.{{cite journal|last1=Zongker|first1=Brett|title=$10M gift to restore slave quarters at Thomas Jefferson estate|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=May 2013|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2013/0501/10M-gift-to-restore-slave-quarters-at-Thomas-Jefferson-estate|publisher=CS Monitor|access-date=9 November 2016}} It is also working on the Getting Word oral history project, which was launched to "preserve the histories of the African American families at Thomas Jefferson's Virginia plantation" by interviewing their descendants.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/getting-word|title=Getting Word: African American Families of Monticello|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-11-09}}

= The Papers of Thomas Jefferson =

{{Main|The Papers of Thomas Jefferson}}

In 1998 the Foundation was approached by Princeton University to assist with The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, a project aimed at publishing the complete public and private papers of Thomas Jefferson.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/j-jefferson-looney-seeks-to-decipher-thomas-jeffersons-writings/2013/03/21/e4c32a62-6f04-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_story.html|title=J. Jefferson Looney seeks to decipher Thomas Jefferson's writings|last=Laris|first=Michael|date=March 21, 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2016-09-28}} The Foundation assumed the responsibility for the Retirement Series, which covers papers composed or received by Jefferson beginning at the end of his presidency on 4 March 1809 and concluding with his death on 4 July 1826. In 2004 the Retirement Series launched a second project, Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters, a freely accessible collection of digital correspondence by, to, and between members of Jefferson's extensive family, excluding those to and from Jefferson himself, and accounts of the early years of the University of Virginia.

= Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery =

{{Main|Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery}}

In 2000 the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, specifically the department of Archaeology of Monticello, launched the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS), an ongoing Internet-based research and archival initiative.{{cite journal|last1=Galle|first1=Jillian|title=The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery|journal=African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter|date=2007|volume=10|issue=4|url=http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1307&context=adan|access-date=5 October 2016}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_R1CQAAQBAJ&q=%22Digital+Archaeological+Archive+of+Comparative+Slavery%22&pg=PT93|title=Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders|last=Carlson|first=Brady|date=2016-02-01|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=9780393243949|language=en}} The goal of DAACS is to advance the historical understanding of slavery and slave-based society in the United States and the Caribbean in the time before the American Civil War.{{Cite web|url=http://www.daacs.org/aboutdaacs/project-history/|title=Project History|website=DAACS|date=23 January 2013 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-05}}{{Cite web|url=http://bsu.edu/dlr/past/issue2_wolfe.pdf|title=Speaking the Lacuna: The Archaeology of Plantation Slavery as Testimony|last=Wolfe|first=Esther|date=2015|website=Digital Literature Review|access-date=October 5, 2016}} The project's goals include cultivating collaboration between scholars of multiple disciplines and the sharing and open access of American slavery-related archaeological data.{{Cite web|url=http://www.daacs.org/aboutdaacs/|title=About DAACS|website=DAACS|date=18 December 2012 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-05}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1iYsBgAAQBAJ&q=%22Digital+Archaeological+Archive+of+Comparative+Slavery%22&pg=PA406|title=The Archaeology of Slavery: A Comparative Approach to Captivity and Coercion|last=Marshall|first=Lydia Wilson|date=2014-12-12|publisher=SIU Press|isbn=9780809333981|pages=9|language=en|access-date=October 5, 2016}}

= Publications =

The Foundation has published multiple works that focus on the history of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, and slavery at the plantation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/publications|title=Publications|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=2016-10-05}} Its first publication, a series of six small books called the Monticello Papers, appeared between 1923 and 1936.{{Cite book|url=http://tjportal.worldcat.org/title/thomas-jefferson-the-sage-of-monticello-and-his-beloved-home-including-the-architecture-of-monticello-by-fiske-kimball-the-life-of-thomas-jefferson-by-mabel-mason-carlton-the-story-of-the-thomas-jefferson-memorial-foundation-by-henry-alan-johnston-together-with-a-foreword-by-stuart-g-gibboney/oclc/2715521&referer=brief_results|title=Thomas Jefferson, the sage of Monticello, and his beloved home: including: The architecture of Monticello, by Fiske Kimball; The life of Thomas Jefferson, by Mabel Mason Carlton; The story of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, by Henry Alan Johnston; together with a foreword by Stuart G. Gibboney.|last1=Kimball|first1=Fiske|last2=Carlton|first2=Mabel Mason|last3=Johnston|first3=Henry Alan|last4=Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation|date=1926-01-01|publisher=The Foundation|location=New York|language=en}} Other published works include A Passion for Nature: Thomas Jefferson and Natural History, Jefferson and Science, Jefferson and Monroe: Constant Friendship and Respect, and Letters from the Head and Heart: Writings of Thomas Jefferson.{{Cite journal|last=Gronim|first=Sara S.|date=2010-12-01|title=Keith Thomson. A Passion for Nature: Thomas Jefferson and Natural History.Lee Alan Dugatkin. Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America.|journal=Isis|volume=101|issue=4|pages=913–914|doi=10.1086/659716|issn=0021-1753}}{{Cite journal|last1=Case|first1=Steven A.|last2=Cunningham|first2=Noble E.|date=2003-01-01|title=Review of Jefferson and Science; Jefferson and Monroe: Constant Friendship and Respect, Noble E. Cunningham Jr.; Letters from the Head and Heart: Writings of Thomas Jefferson|jstor=23522849|journal=The North Carolina Historical Review|volume=80|issue=4|pages=486–488}}

Centers

=Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies=

The Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies (ICJS), the scholarly hub of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, is intended to "foster Thomas Jefferson scholarship and disseminate findings through research and education".{{cite web|title=About the ICJS|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/about-icjs|publisher=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=9 November 2016}} Founded in 1994 as the International Center for Jefferson Studies, the name was changed when Robert H. Smith endowed the Center in 2004. The ICJS hosts fellowships, international scholarly conferences, courses and seminars, and internships and also issues Jefferson-related publications.

The ICJS is made up of several departments which are individually responsible for the Jefferson Library, archaeology, research, publications, adult enrichment, and the editorial department of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series.

= Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants =

The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants was established in 1986 and is concerned with the collection, preservation, and distribution of historic plant varieties and the study of their origins and evolution. It covers not only plants that were grown at Monticello, but also plants that were cultivated elsewhere in America.{{cite web|title=Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/thomas-jefferson-center-historic-plants|publisher=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=9 November 2016}}

See also

References

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