30. Secrets to the grave
What we do know for sure is that Thomas Jefferson did want to hide his relationship with Sally Hemings from the public, as well as the fact that he fathered children by her. Perhaps what makes this story resonate so much is the literal intersection of an American idealist and the ugly legacy of slavery.
Sally Hemings told her kids they were the children of Jefferson, but otherwise didn’t speak on the matter. But the only people who truly know what went on in that room on Monticello Plantation took the the full truth with with them to the grave. All we have left are pieces of a puzzle that when put together, paint an unsettling picture of an American icon that is hard to ignore and raises some tough questions.