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<\/a>Jefferson is often seen as being an enigmatic figure, riddled with contradictions. While lauded for his many achievements and contributions in the public and political spheres, some aspects of his life are more problematic and controversial. He was, without question, a complex person, who possessed a formidable intellect as well as a vibrant imagination. Primary author of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was a polymath who mastered such diverse disciplines as mathematics, surveying, horticulture, mechanics, architecture, linguistics, religion, and philosophy. He spoke several languages and was a prolific letter-writer and correspondent. An outspoken proponent of freedom and equality who, during his brief practice as a lawyer, at times defended slaves seeking their freedom, he was also the owner of several plantations, worked by hundreds of slaves. (His intimate relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, is carefully documented in Gordon-Reed\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.)<\/p>\nGordon-Reed and Onuf maintain that in order to understand Jefferson\u2019s career as a statesman, one must understand his private life. The authors suggest that Jefferson\u2019s sense of himself and his vision of America\u2019s republican future were shaped by his personal relationships\u2014with enslaved people, family members, and friends and visitors to his plantation home in Monticello and to his other homes in Europe and America.<\/p>\n
The O’Fallon Lecture was established by a gift from Henry and Betsy Mayer, named in memory of their nephew, son of UO Law professor James O’Fallon and his wife, artist Ellen Thomas. The subject of this lecture alternates between law and art and American culture. Past topics have included philosophy, jurisprudence, American political life, architecture, and art theory and criticism.
\nThe lecture is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book sale and signing. For more information, or for disability accommodations (which must be made by April 14), please call (541) 346-3934 or ohc@uoregon.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMost Blessed of the Patriarchs\u201d: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination The Oregon Humanities Center is honored to host two of America\u2019s leading Jefferson scholars for this spring\u2019s O\u2019Fallon Lecture in Law and American Culture: Annette Gordon-Reed, Charles…<\/p>\n