December 2023

 

Saving Monticello: The Newsletter

The latest about the book, author events, and more

Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson

 

Volume XX, Number 12                                                        December 2023

“The study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner

 

THE DOC: When’s the documentary going to be available? I’ve heard that question countless times since Steven Pressman’s terrific film, “The Levys of Monticello,” began screening at more than a hundred film festivals around the country last year. My answer: As soon as I know, I’ll tell the world. 

So, I’m extremely happy to report that two weeks ago I had an email from Steve letting me know that his award-winning film began streaming on November 24 on several of the big online platforms, including Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Apple iTunes. 

With scores of historic images, “The Levys of Monticello,” which was inspired by Saving Monticello, creatively and effectively tells the story of Uriah and Jefferson Levy’s 89-year stewardship of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello with input from a raft of great on-screen contributors. 

That includes including Susan Stein, Monticello’s longtime curator; Dr. Dan Jordan, the historian and former Thomas Jefferson Foundation president; University of Virginia Professor Emerita Dr. Phyllis Leffler; the renowned Brandeis University Professor of Jewish-American history, Dr. Jonathan Sarna; Niya Bates, the former director of African American history and the Getting Word African American Oral History Project at Monticello; Virginia Commonwealth University Emeritus History Professor Dr. Mel Urofsky, Levy Family descendants Harley Lewis and her son Richard Lewis; and yours truly. So, now’s the time to watch the film from the comfort of your favorite movie watching venue—and to tell everyone you know about it! 

DR. KAMENSKY: The Thomas Jefferson Foundation announced in October that Jane Kamensky will become the organization’s next president, starting January 15. Dr. Kamensky is coming south from Massachusetts, where she has been an American History Professor at Harvard University since 2015 and also has headed the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

We realize Dr. Kamensky is extremely busy as she makes the move to Virginia and assumes the leadership of the Foundation, but we hope to sit down with her for an interview soon and report on it in next month’s (or February’s) newsletter. I’m very much looking forward to hearing her take on the history of Monticello after Thomas Jefferson died, especially Uriah and Jefferson Levy’s 89-year stewardship.   

FOUNDATION HISTORY: A hundred years ago, on December 1, 1923, the newly formed Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation (now the Thomas Jefferson Foundation) sealed the deal for its purchase of Monticello from Jefferson Monroe Levy. The former New York City congressman and big-time real estate and stock speculator had owned Monticello for 44 years, and—like his uncle, Uriah Levy—had restored, repaired, and preserved the house and grounds after it had fallen into serious disrepair during the 17-year legal wrangling (from 1862-79) as family members challenged Uriah’s will in which he left Monticello to the people of the United States to be used as an agricultural school for the orphans of Navy Warrant Officers.

When he signed the title of the property over to the Foundation on December 1, 1923, in New York City, Jefferson Levy received a down payment of $100,000 of the $500,000 purchase price. 

Theodore Fred Kuper, the Foundation’s first director, who was at the closing table, later described the scene: “The cash and the bonds and mortgage were delivered to Levy, and Levy signed the deed conveying full title to the property and all belongings to the Foundation,” Kuper said. 

“This was a very emotional scene and he burst out crying. He said that he never dreamt that he would ever part with the property.

Three months later, on March 6, 1924, at his home on East 37^th Street in New York City, Jefferson Levy died of heart disease, five weeks short of his 72^nd birthday. He is buried in Beth Olom Cemetery in Queens, in the Levy family plot near his illustrious uncle. 

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 The Foundation has marked its centennial this year with a series of ceremonial events. The latest, in late November, was a fact-filled livestream presentation by Ann Lucas, Monticello’s Senior Historian Emerita, titled “The Centennial of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation: 100 Years of Education and Preservation.” 

In in, Ann Lucas mentioned the stewardship of the Levy family as she detailed the Foundation’s monumental work preserving and restoring Monticello over the decades and educating the public about Thomas Jefferson and his Essay in Architecture. You can watch the livestream online at https://bit.ly/TJFLiveStream

HUNTLAND: My new book, Huntland: The Historic Virginia Country House, the Property, and Its Owners, has just been published. My tenth book, it’s my second house history, following the footsteps of Saving Monticello. 

Huntland, in Middleburg, Virginia, was built in 1834, has had several memorable owners and visitors (including Lyndon Johnson when he was Senate Majority Leader and Vice President), and a triumphant 21st century historic preservation ending. 

The University of Virginia Press is marketing and distributing the book. It’s available online at U-Va. Press’s website, on Amazon, and through local bookstores.

CORRECTION: In last month’s newsletter, I wrote that Francis (Fran) Wolff Levy Lewis was “the second-eldest” of the four daughters of Jefferson Levy’s brother Louis Napoleon Levy and his wife Lillian. Newsletter subscriber—and Fran’s niece—Nancy Hoffman emailed to let me know that her aunt actually was the oldest daughter. Nancy, who was born in 1930, is the last of L. Napoleon Levy’s living grandchildren. 

EVENTS: I am still working on my next book, a slice-of-life biography of Doug Hegdahl, the lowest-ranking and youngest American captured in North Vietnam and held prisoner there during the Vietnam War scheduled to be published in the spring of 2025. So, no events this month. For details on future talks, check the Events page on my website: https://bit.ly/NewAppearances 

GIFT IDEAS:  For a personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello or the just-published hardcover of Huntland, e-mail marcleepson@gmail.com  

I also usually have a few used Saving Monticello hardcovers, and a stock of new copies of five of my other books: Flag: An American Biography; Desperate Engagement; What So Proudly We Hailed; Flag: An American Biography; and Ballad of the Green Beret.

The SM Newsletter on Line: You can read back issues of this newsletter at http://bit.ly/SMOnline