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Neo-Nazis rallied around Jefferson's statue. But it was a Jewish family that saved Monticello.
Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/fahrenthold
Now-Nazis rallied around Jefferson's statue. But it was Jews who saved his beloved Monticello. Via @rachsieg
Link to tweet
Neo-Nazis rallied around Jefferson’s statue. But it was a Jewish family that saved Monticello.
By Rachel Siegel August 23 at 6:00 AM
....
The neo-Nazis and white supremacists who recently descended on Charlottesville ignored one key historical fact, among others: Monticello, Jefferson’s beloved iconic mansion just a few miles southeast, was saved from ruin by Jews. ... Over the course of nearly 90 years after Jefferson’s death, two members of the illustrious Levy family purchased and personally saw to the preservation of the property. They did so out of a genuine reverence for Jefferson’s role as a Founding Father and for his advocacy of religious freedom. And they did so in the face of the very anti-Semitism that echoed on the streets of Charlottesville decades later.
{The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville} *
The first member of the Levy family to own Monticello was Uriah Phillips Levy, a decorated naval officer who served as the first Jewish commodore of the U.S. Navy. He was a leader in the fight against flogging in the Navy and was a hero of the War of 1812. He was also quick to anger and was court-martialed six times, once killing a man in a duel. ... As noted by historian Marc Leepson in his book, “Saving Monticello,” Uriah Levy had to overcome “more than his share of anti-Semitism to attain the Navy’s highest rank.” Levy himself said that he was “forced to encounter a large share of the prejudice and hostility by which, for so many ages, the Jew has been persecuted.”
At least part of Levy’s admiration for Jefferson was born from the president’s support of religious equality. In addition to the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Such admiration ran in the family — in 1787, Uriah’s brother, Jonas Phillips Levy, wrote to the Constitutional Convention to call on the body to endow “all men” “the natural and unalienable right to worship almighty God according to their own conscience and understanding.”
Jefferson — a compulsive shopper burdened by substantial debt throughout his life — died at Monticello on July 4, 1826. His family was forced to sell much of his property, including the mansion, which was purchased by Uriah Levy in 1834 for $2,500. Like Jefferson, Levy was a slave owner, and enslaved people were used along with hired workers to repair the mansion.
....
Rachel graduated from Yale and is a reporting intern on the local transportation team. Follow @rachsieg
By Rachel Siegel August 23 at 6:00 AM
....
The neo-Nazis and white supremacists who recently descended on Charlottesville ignored one key historical fact, among others: Monticello, Jefferson’s beloved iconic mansion just a few miles southeast, was saved from ruin by Jews. ... Over the course of nearly 90 years after Jefferson’s death, two members of the illustrious Levy family purchased and personally saw to the preservation of the property. They did so out of a genuine reverence for Jefferson’s role as a Founding Father and for his advocacy of religious freedom. And they did so in the face of the very anti-Semitism that echoed on the streets of Charlottesville decades later.
{The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville} *
The first member of the Levy family to own Monticello was Uriah Phillips Levy, a decorated naval officer who served as the first Jewish commodore of the U.S. Navy. He was a leader in the fight against flogging in the Navy and was a hero of the War of 1812. He was also quick to anger and was court-martialed six times, once killing a man in a duel. ... As noted by historian Marc Leepson in his book, “Saving Monticello,” Uriah Levy had to overcome “more than his share of anti-Semitism to attain the Navy’s highest rank.” Levy himself said that he was “forced to encounter a large share of the prejudice and hostility by which, for so many ages, the Jew has been persecuted.”
At least part of Levy’s admiration for Jefferson was born from the president’s support of religious equality. In addition to the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Such admiration ran in the family — in 1787, Uriah’s brother, Jonas Phillips Levy, wrote to the Constitutional Convention to call on the body to endow “all men” “the natural and unalienable right to worship almighty God according to their own conscience and understanding.”
Jefferson — a compulsive shopper burdened by substantial debt throughout his life — died at Monticello on July 4, 1826. His family was forced to sell much of his property, including the mansion, which was purchased by Uriah Levy in 1834 for $2,500. Like Jefferson, Levy was a slave owner, and enslaved people were used along with hired workers to repair the mansion.
....
Rachel graduated from Yale and is a reporting intern on the local transportation team. Follow @rachsieg
* and that anniversary is coming up on Friday.
Saving Monticello
Saving Monticello: The Newsletter
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