Saving Monticello: The Newsletter
The latest about the book, author
events, and more
Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson
Volume XV, Number 11 November
1, 2018
“The study of the past is a constantly evolving,
never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner
THE
STATUE AND THE MAN: Two weeks
ago the Washington Post’s John Kelly,
who writes a popular column on historical matters of local interest, told the
tale of the statue of Thomas Jefferson that Uriah Levy commissioned in 1833 and
presented to the United States—the one that now stands in the Rotunda in the
U.S. Capitol.
How the statue got there is a complicated (and fascinating)
story, and one I tell in detail in Saving
Monticello.
I noticed a minor error in a quote Kelly used—that Levy rose
to the rank of Captain in the Navy; in fact, he was a Commodore when he died in
service in 1862. So I emailed Kelly, telling him I read the column with
interest, and pointing out the misstatement.
He emailed me right back and asked if I would fill him in on
Uriah Levy’s life and Navy career. I accepted in a New York minute and the next
day we had a great 45-minute talk.
To my delight, the following
Sunday, October 28, Kelly devoted his column to Levy, highlighting his Navy
career, including the anti-Semitism he faced, his six courts-martial (mostly on
trumped-up charges), and how he spearheaded the successful effort to ban
flogging in the Navy. Kelly also touched on the statue and how UPL and his
nephew Jefferson M. Levy saved Monticello.
The column ended with a quote from Gaye Wilson, senior
historian at Monticello’s Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson
Studies—a quote that I completely agree with.
Uriah Levy, she told Kelly, “said that great men’s homes
should be preserved as ‘monuments to their glory.’ I think the Levys can be
credited with the fact that the house is still standing today.”
Here’s the link to Kelly’s column:
http://bit.ly/Kellycolumn
SEPHARDI
IDEAS: As readers of Saving
Monticello know, Uriah Levy and Jefferson M. Levy (who owned Monticello
from 1834-1923) are descended from Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition in
Portugal, and in 1733 helped found the city of Savannah, Georgia. The magazine Sephardi Ideas Monthly ran a long
interview with me that covered the family’s escape from Portugal and Uriah and
Jefferson Levy’s stewardship of Monticello in the October issue of the
magazine, which features “essays from the rich, multi-dimensional world of
Sephardi thought.”
EVENTS: Here are my November events:
·
On Saturday,
November 3, I will be doing a talk on Ballad of the Green Beret for the
Freedom Hill DAR chapter’s monthly meeting in McLean, Virginia
·
I’ll be speaking about Saving Monticello on Sunday,
November 4, at the Bier Baron Tavern in Washington, D.C., as part of the
Pints and Profs program (current and former college profs speaking at
bar/restaurants in D.C.), starting at 6:00. Ticket info at profsandpints.com
·
On Tuesday,
November 6, I’ll be speaking about Saving
Monticello at the monthly meeting of The Madisons of Montpelier Daughters
of 1812 chapter in Gordonsville, Virginia.
·
At the monthly meeting of the Anne Marie
Fitzhugh chapter on Saturday, November
10, in Springfield, Virginia, I’ll present a talk on my Francis Scott Key
biography, What So Proudly We Hailed.
If you’d like to arrange an event
for Saving Monticello or for any of
my other books, please email me at marcleepson@gmail.com
For info on my latest book, Ballad of the Green Beret, please go to http://bit.ly/GreenBeretBook
For details on other upcoming
events, go to http://leepsoncalendar.blogspot.com
GIFT IDEAS:
Want a personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello? Please e-mail me at marcleepson@gmail.com I also have a few as-new, unopened hardcover
copies, along with a good selection of brand-new copies of my other books: Flag: An American Biography; Desperate
Engagement; What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis
Scott Key, a Life; and Ballad of the
Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler.
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