Law Professors

Law Prof Wins Pulitzer

Posted Apr 21, 2009 5:03 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A professor at New York Law School has won a Pulitzer Prize for her book exploring the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings.

Annette Gordon-Reed won in the history category for her book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Gordon-Reed’s earlier book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, sparked debate by making the case for a relationship between Jefferson and Hemings. After the book was published, DNA evidence showed a genetic link between Jefferson and Hemings’ youngest child.

A story on Gordon-Reed in the New Jersey Star-Ledger also identifies her as a Rutgers history professor. She became interested in Jefferson when she read a biography as a child in East Texas, the story says.

Earlier in her career, Gordon-Reed was an associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, according to the New York Law School website.

Comments

1.

I again in Ohio
Apr 21, 2009 12:07 PM CST

She initially received a lot of flack when the book was first published, BEFORE the DNA results were completed.
After the DNA results were in, IMO, she used exceptionally professional word choice to say, “I told you so!”

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