The Jefferson-Hemings Myth : An American Travesty - Softcover

How the results of a 1998 DNA study were overstated in such a way as to mislead the public into believing that scientific tests had proved Thomas Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings’ last child.

How information about other Jefferson males living in the vicinity of Monticello who could have been the father of Sally Hemings’ last child was kept from the news media and even omitted from some scholarly books.

How the news media were provided with the fallacious title of a scientific study, and how some were misled into denigrating Thomas Jefferson as a liar, a hypocrite, and a fraud based on that false and misleading information.

How the descendants of Tom Woodson continue to maintain he was the son of Thomas Jefferson even though the DNA tests conclusively disproved this long-repeated family story.

Why exhuming the body of Thomas Jefferson and subjecting it to DNA testing cannot prove whether or not someone living today is or is not a descendant of his. How a research committee ignored all the contrary evidence and suppressed a dissenting minority report in order to arrive at the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson was probably the father of all Sally Hemings' children.

Why a deceptive statistical study indicating a high probability of Jefferson's guilt is based on inadequate evidence and is invalid.

Why, from a legal viewpoint, the case against Thomas Jefferson is deficient in any substantial evidence and completely without merit.

How a key letter written by Jefferson's granddaughter was altered by one author to reverse its clear meaning, and then reprinted and used as authority by other advocates of the Jefferson-Hemings myth.

Why a group of citizens felt it necessary to form the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society in order to expose the false information being disseminated to destroy the reputation of the Founding Father who, as George Will said, "gave us our creed" and "defined the American mind."

How these attacks on Jefferson are also used by some to undermine the principles he stood for and on which the American republic was founded.