The Revolving Desk
Welcome to our Revolving Desk
Here in our version of a swiveling cupboard, we will offer an occasional series of brief essays by a rotating slate of authors from our project. Our goal is to provide vignettes to illuminate subjects we encounter in our work. This is our opportunity to say a little more about bits that have caught our interest and, we hope, will catch yours.
Hoping for a Cold Spell: Jefferson’s Icehouse Records as a Climate Proxy
Before the advent of modern refrigeration, ice collected from ponds, lakes, and rivers in the winter, was used to extend the life of perishables. Stored properly, the ice could last well into autumn. A new exhibit on the Weather and Climate Records digital resource uses Jefferson’s notes and other papers to document ice collection and storage from 1801-1825.
Explorations and Dead Ends
This work comes with its share of frustrations. Research angles go nowhere. Lovingly and meticulously crafted annotation is rendered superfluous by new information. Most relevant to this post, some of our correspondents stubbornly remain ciphers. Recently, I worked...
Frances Few Dines with the President
Frances Few was a niece of Hannah Nicholson Gallatin, wife of Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. Born in 1789, Frances was raised in elite New York City society, well-educated, and long-lived. She died in Hastings-on-Hudson at 95, the widow of Albert A....
The Travails of a Republican Émigré in Jeffersonian America
One of Jefferson’s most prolific correspondents was a little-known Franco-German named Philippe Reibelt, at different times a spy, archivist, failed land speculator, bookseller, and would-be government official. It should come as no surprise that the largest...
A Place to Lay Their Heads: Housing in Early Washington City
When the seat of government officially moved to the banks of the Potomac in late 1800, those who traveled with it found little trade, few roads to regulate, and empty lots. When members of the second session of the Sixth Congress began filtering into Washington, it immediately became clear that finding a place to lay their heads would not be easy in this village capital.
Postal Dreams Deferred
In 1806, Jefferson received an atypical request for pardon. The case draws interest for a recently passed law that the defendants had unknowingly violated: they had employed Black mail carriers on the postal route they managed, which connected New York and Philadelphia.
Charity Begins at Home? Jefferson and Presidential Philanthropy
Charitable giving was a customary practice throughout Jefferson’s life in accordance with his patriarchal worldview and that of many of his contemporaries, and thus it is not surprising that he would advise others to adopt similar philanthropic pursuits.
The Jefferson Weather and Climate Records
The history of Earth’s weather (conditions at a particular place and time) and climate (long term weather patterns and regional environments) is the basis of understanding modern climate trends and weather patterns. Evidence of past weather is found in fossils, ice...
A True Crime Character of the Early Republic
We encounter a lot of different characters in our work with the Jefferson Papers. A few, however, stick in the mind, inviting a deeper examination than time and our mission generally allow.