The Mystery of Tom and Sally (In-person)
Fall (4-8 hours) | Registration opens 7/29/2025 12:00 AM EDT
Over the past three decades, the question of whether Thomas Jefferson had something more than a master-servant relationship with his enslaved chambermaid, Sally Hemings, has spawned a not-so-polite controversy within the academic community. In this course, we will explore the relationship between the two and seek to answer the question: Did Thomas Jefferson father Sally Hemings’ children? This course will combine lecture with class discussion.
James Bays
Jim Bays is a retired corporate attorney who has taught Osher courses at Dartmouth and in Texas on U.S. history in the late 18th century, including courses on Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, the seminal Supreme Court case of Marbury vs. Madison, the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution, and the Electoral College. He is a 1971 graduate of Dartmouth College and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1974.