Vienna250 / Bards Alley Author Series

Throughout the year, Bards Alley and the Vienna250 Committee are cohosting a series of author events. This event celebrates Juneteenth with Gayle Jessup White, author of “Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant’s Search for Her Family’s Lasting Legacy.” 

Ms. Jessup White is a Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings and her book explores America’s racial reckoning through the prism of her ancestors—both the enslaver and the enslaved. Ms. Jessup White had long heard the stories passed down from her father’s family, that they were direct descendants of Thomas Jefferson.  For four decades the acclaimed journalist and genealogy enthusiast researched her connection to Thomas Jefferson, to confirm its truth once and for all.  After much research, she learned that not only was she a descendant of Jefferson on his father’s side; she was also the great-great-great-granddaughter of Peter Hemings, Sally Hemings’s brother. Today, Ms. Jessup White is Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the non-profit organization that owns and operates Monticello. She is the first descendant of Jefferson and the families he enslaved to be employed by the Foundation. 

Note: A limited supply of all books to be featured in the author series will be available for purchase at each event*. You may also pre-order books for pick up in store by calling Bards Alley at 571-459-2653.

*Derek Baxter’s The Forgotten World War releases on May 26, 2026. https://www.bardsalley.com/

Location: Vienna Community Center Auditorium, 120 Cherry Street SE.