SPEAKER SERIES #1: Marc Leepson

 

 

Speaker Series #1

SAVING MONTICELLO:

The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built

Marc Leepson - Historian, Author, Journalist

May 22nd  |  7:00 p.m.

Marc Leepson’s book Saving Monticello: The Levy Family’s Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built has been hailed as “a work of historical importance, a valuable addition to Jeffersoniana and Jewish-American history, and a cautionary tale of historic preservation” by the Richmond Times Dispatch. With a dramatic narrative sweep across generations, this book vividly recounts the turbulent saga of Jefferson’s estate.

 

Thomas Jefferson died in debt—to the tune of more than $100,000. Forced to sell thousands of acres of his lands and nearly all of his furniture and artwork, his heirs bid a final goodbye to Monticello itself. The house was sold to the highest bidder. "Saving Monticello" offers the first complete post-Jefferson history of this American icon and reveals the amazing story of how one Jewish family saved the house that became a family home to them for 89 years -- longer than it ever was to the Jeffersons. Two generations of the Levy family have saved the house from ruin at two different points in history. United by a fierce love of country, the Levy descendants venerated the Founding Fathers for establishing a religiously tolerant and democratic nation where their family had thrived since 1733, largely free of the persecutions and prejudices of the Old World.

 

Leepson is a journalist, historian and the author of nine books, most recently: Ballad of the Green Beret, What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life, Lafayette: Idealist General, Desperate Engagement, Flag: An American Biography, and Saving Monticello. Additionally, he edited The Webster’s New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War and wrote two books on health topics in the 1980s. A former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., he has been a free-lance writer since 1986. He has written for many newspapers, magazines, and resource publications.

 

FREE to the public. Seating is limited; make reservations online at: www.sotterley.org OR CALL 301-373-2280.

 

The Boeing Company has generously sponsored the Speaker Series at Sotterley for the past 12 years.