GREAT DURAND-HEDDEN HOUSE EVENT TODAY

THOMAS JEFFERSON'S TWO FAMILIES 2:00pm

What did it mean for Thomas Jefferson -- and what does it mean for us -- that the author of the Declaration of Independence had two families, one white and one black, one official and "legitimate" and one hidden, carrying only his DNA and a few family memories as their legacy?  At 2:00 p.m. Maplewood resident Jan Ellen Lewis, a professor of history at Rutgers Newark and one of the country’s most foremost Jeffersonian scholars, will talk about what these contradictory actions reveal about the complexities of families, of race, and of history. A specialist in colonial and early national history, Professor Lewis is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Family and Values in Jefferson’s Virginia (1983) and a coeditor of An Emotional History of the United States (1998); Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture (1999); and The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic (2002).  From 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. visitors are invited to view the exhibit After the Hickories: Roosevelt Park, and the Country Store will be open, with its unique selection of souvenirs and books.  The Durand-Hedden House and surrounding Grasmere Park were designated a Maplewood Historic Landmark in 2006. The Durand-Hedden House and Garden Association is dedicated to telling the story of the development of Maplewood and the surrounding area in new and engaging ways. For more information, call 973-763-7712. The Durand-Hedden House is located at 523 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood.