University of Virginia Library

ASK THE CAVALIER DAILY

— D.M.

Dear D.M.:

Many students will remember
the news sheet published last spring
by the strike committee titled
"Sally Hemings." Lost among the
other cloudy issues of the springtime
festivities, Sally's true identity
was never known to many.

Our super-sleuth researchers,
after wading through volumes of
historical irrelevancies, finally
found Sally's skeleton to be located
in none other than Mr. Jefferson's
closet. Her story should be top
priority orientation material for
every first-year student.

Fawn M. Brodie, recent Sesquicentennial
scholar, provides the basic
details in the Virginia Quarterly
Review. It seems that Sally, a
young black slave girl, came to Mr.
Jefferson as part of his wife's inheritance.
There is good reason to
believe that Sally was indeed
Martha Jefferson's half-sister,
Martha and Sally both having the
same father.

Martha died at a young age, but
Sally hung on, eventually following
the sage of Monticello to France,
where he was American minister to
the French court. It was in France
that the liaison occurred between
the two, supposedly, piling moral
recklessness upon utter and base
depravity.

Thus runs the story. The historical
battle ensues as to whether the
relationship did actually take place.
Our own Merrill Peterson, a leading
Jefferson scholar, repudiates the
story. Many black historians, however,
accept the evidence, leaving
the question open to discussion.

***

— S.C.

Dear S.C.:

While it is legal to drive barefoot
in Virginia, if you have an accident,
driving while barefoot may be cited
as contributing to the accident.
Regulations vary from state to
state.