Jefferson- Hemings History Wins National Book Award

Tome details founding father's slave family

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 20, 2008 6:31 AM CST

(Newser) – The heart-wrenching and controversial history of Thomas Jefferson's secret family with slave Sally Hemings took the top prize for nonfiction at the National Book Awards last night, USA Today reports. Annette Gordon-Reed became the first African-American woman to win the prize for her detailed exploration of the lives of three generations of the family in The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.

"Her book is at once a painstaking history of slavery, an unflinching gaze at the ways it has defined us, and a humane exploration of lives—grand and simple," the judges said of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. Peter Matthiessen's Shadow Country, a tale of a 19th-century Florida outlaw, took the top prize for fiction.

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Annette Gordon-Reed, second from left, collects her National Book Award for best nonfiction work for "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family." (AP Photo/Robin Platzer)

'The Hemingses of Monticello' takes a detailed look at three generations of a slave family owned by Thomas Jefferson. (©cliff1066)

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Annette Gordon-Reed discusses the story of the Hemings family. (BookVideosTV)

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I can’t say what a wonderful November this has been. It’s sort of wonderful to have the book come out at this time. We’re on a great journey now and I look forward to the years to come. - Author Annette Gordon-Reed

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Jefferson- Hemings History Wins National Book Award