06/19/2026
The document pictured above bears the only surviving instance of Robert Hemmings’s signature and handwriting known to the historical record.
In 1776, Hemmings was a fourteen-year-old enslaved valet accompanying Thomas Jefferson on a trip to Philadelphia as the Declaration of Independence was being drafted. More than three decades later, after gaining his freedom, he signed the marriage bond of his daughter Elizabeth, preserving a rare record of a life often left at the margins of America’s founding story.
In our latest publication, Declaration House, Andrew M. Davenport, Vice President for Research at Monticello, reflects:
“Seeing Hemmings’s signature and considering all that his family’s freedom meant during the era of slavery is a powerful reminder of the lives of the founding generation whose stories have been rarely, if ever, told.”
This Juneteenth, we’re thinking about the gap between the ideals expressed in 1776 and the realities of freedom as they were lived, fought for, and carried forward across generations.
Throughout the summer, we’ll continue exploring Robert Hemmings’s life, the history of the Declaration of Independence, and what changes when we place overlooked stories at the center of our understanding of America’s founding.
Dive into these questions with us by pre-ordering your copy of “Declaration House” today at the link in bio.
Major support for Declaration House has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from VIA Art Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. Project partners include Independence National Historical Park and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation’s Monticello and its Getting Word African American History Department.
