SALLY HEMINGS

PLEASE NOTE: This role was reexamined and Sally’s monologue has been retired from this show. An original play based on her story, her ancestors and her descendants is slated to begin development —once funding is secured for that process. Proceeds from MISTRESSES will continue to be utilized to support this sister project.

Sally Hemings was born in 1778 on a plantation in Virginia. She was the daughter of Betty Hemings. Sally was enslaved by her own father, John Wales and, after his death, by her sister, Martha (Wales) Jefferson. As a young girl, she acted as a nursemaid and companion for Martha and Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Maria. She was also a skilled seamstress. In 1787, when Sally was 14 years old, she accompanied Maria and Thomas Jefferson to Paris, France. She remained there during the his time as the United States Minister to France. While abroad, Thomas Jefferson sexually assaulted Sally. Through this, she became pregnant. Sally Hemings returned to the United States in 1779 and gave birth to a daughter. Shortly after, she lost this child. She would go on to have four more children - Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston. Jefferson fathered each. She was never given legal emancipation, but her children were. In 1826, Sally left the plantation to live with her sons in Charlottesville, Virginia. She died in 1835. Her children’s paternal lineage was proven through DNA analysis in 1998. A decade later, The Foundation of Monticello officially recognized these findings. In June 2018, Sally’s quarters were fully restored and her story is now shared with visitors to the historical site.