Jefferson, Slavery, and the Moral Imagination: Race and American memory at the crossroads

The Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley State University presents some of the most delightful nights of intellectual curiosity in our city, and as we prepare to celebrate Black History Month, their January panel is sure to ignite a lot of minds as they look at a beloved but equally curious American historical leader. 

Thomas Jefferson — one of our nation’s most revered philosophers of the early republic’s Enlightenment ideals — was deeply involved in the nation’s original sin of slavery. 

History shows us that he was not only a slave owner, but modern DNA testing has strongly suggests that Jefferson fathered five children with Sally Hemings, whom he enslaved. 

From the event site this lecture, hosted by historians Annette Gordon-Reed (Harvard University) and Peter S. Onuf (University of Virginia), attendees will seek to answer this question: “In today’s divisive and distrustful moment, how can Americans grapple productively with the most challenging obstacles to finding common ground for the common good, especially at the troubled crossroads of race and American memory?”

This Hauenstein Center event, “Jefferson, Slavery, and the Moral Imagination” is presented in partnership with Grand Valley’s Division of Inclusion and Equity, and is free and open to the public.