Gayle Jessup White

A very interesting, thought provoking read! White tells of her search for her family connections to President Jefferson. Any geneologist can appreciate the difficulty of search; her beginnings were from family stories that they were descended from Jefferson! Her search included the records roadblock of her black family being slaves of the family. One of those stories that could have been a dull plodding through records, but she tells this as a well documented story so well.
I know other geneologists who struggle with what to do with the knowledge of slavery in their white family history. This family story can serve as a voice of those affected and guide in our searches.… (meer)

After Gayle Jessup White heard that her father’s family was descended from Thomas Jefferson, she dreamt she had to tell their stories. It was not an easy task. There were few written records and the white descendants did not want to acknowledge them.
Born in 1957, Gayle Jessup grew up in an upper, middle-class Black suburb of Washington DC. Her father, who hoped to become a doctor, had to drop out of college when his wife became pregnant to help support their family. Her mother, who expected to be married to a doctor, never forgave him and continued try to live the life she had dreamed about.
In RECLAMATION, Gayle discusses the changes in DC during the 60s and 70s as Blacks were driven from their neighborhoods.
Gayle was, by ten years, the youngest of five children. She had a very comfortable childhood, going to private Catholic schools and a summer camp, and getting a Mustang when she was in high school, It wasn’t until she was thirteen years old that she encountered racism. On vacation at a hotel in Las Vegas, a new friend’s mother would not allow the two girls to swim together because Gayle was Black.
Gayle didn’t know much about her family history. Her father’s mother and his sisters all died from tuberculosis when he was five years old. His father did not provide much care or information to his two remaining sons. But Gayle had heard that they were direct descendants of Thomas Jefferson.
Gayle was very active in her community and worked at the New York Times and as a television news anchor, among other positions, both paid and volunteer. Some of them were the result of the connections her parents had with influential people.
But for more than forty years, the story about her ancestors continued to draw her. She dreamt that she had an obligation to tell the stories of her ancestors
She became an International Center for Jefferson Studies Fellow.
The first time she went to Monticello, she saw the lack of Black employees and mention of the Black slaves who worked the plantation. While there was a large cemetery for Thomas Jefferson’s white family and descendants but nothing for the Black slaves. (Eventually she found their unmarked graves.)
Her interest in genealogy and then the availability of DNA testing enabled her to learn about some of her ancestors as well as living, but unknown, relatives. In 2016, she was able to get a job at Monticello at a time when the Black slaves who served there during Jefferson’s time and were being recognized.
In the process, Gayle was able to connect with many of her current relatives and tell the stories of the Black slaves at Monticello, including the children and relatives of Sally Hemings, the mother of several of Jefferson’s children.
RECLAMATION is an interesting read about the author and the times and places she lived as well as the effort to expose the history of the Black Americans who lived on Monticello as well as others who helped build the Capitol and houses of Congress.
There is some repetition.… (meer)