At Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, an American story is reappearing. The bedroom of Sally Hemings, the slave who bore seven children to Jefferson, is being restored in its original location, next to Jefferson’s own bedroom. For decades, Hemings’ room was a lavatory for visitors. Now the tiles have been stripped away, the floor […]

Peter Gardella
Peter Gardella is Professor of World Religions at Manhattanville College. His most recent books area Innocent Ecstasy: How Christianity Gave America an Ethic of Sexual Pleasure (Oxford University Press, 2016) and American Civil Religion: What Americans Hold Sacred (Oxford University Press, 2014).