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By age 15 Juana Inés de la Cruz was known as the most learned woman in Colonial Mexico. Born to a Spanish father and a Creole mother, Juana experienced the rigidity of the Mexican casta system. When her mother said no to letting Juana dress as a boy and go to Mexico City to study, she turned to her grandfather's library to satisfy her voracious love of reading. During her teenage years, she became a lady in waiting for the Marchioness of Mancera and was put in front of forty-some men to test her knowledge.

Sor Juana Inés entered the convent of San Jerónimo by 16, letting her pursue writing and creative pursuits without leaving her life in the hands of men in colonial society. crafting religious and secular poetry, plays, essays, and scholarly research. She often called out the hypocrisies in colonial society between men and women, most famously in her poem Redondillas.

After writing a scathing critique of a sermon by a famous Jesuit priest, Sor Juana was ostracized for her opinions in colonial Mexico while praised in Spain. Believing the fault lay in herself, she sold away nearly all of her books, mathematical equipment, and musical instruments. She died in 1695 while nursing her fellow nuns while sick with an unidentified plague.

Come along with us as we explore the enigmatic life of Sor Juana Inés, her writings, and the dichotomies in colonial Mexico through history and astrology in our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month!

Sources:

Books:

• Feminist Perspectives on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz edited by Stephanie Merrim
• Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Poems, Protest, and a Dream: Selected Writings, Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
• A Woman of Genius: The Intellectual Autobiography of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Translated and Introduction by Margaret Sayers Peden

Digital Media:

• "The Works of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz with Paloma Celis Carbajal" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k9zqeg-as4)
• 
  

Primary Sources:

• Redondillas by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (https://www.poemas-del-alma.com/sor-juana-ines-de-la-cruz-redondillas.htm)

Websites:

• “About Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” (https://poets.org/poet/sor-juana-ines-de-la-cruz)
• "Claustro de Sor Juana / San Jerónimo Convent" (https://mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx/venues/claustro-de-sor-juana/?lang=en)
• “Creoles and Peninsulares: Imperial Hierarchy” (https://historiamundum.com/political-hierarchy-spanish-empire)
• "Museo de Sitio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz" (https://sic.gob.mx/ficha.php?table=museo&table_id=2490)
• “Sor Juana (1648-1695)” (https://projectvox.org/sor-juana-1648-1695/)
• “On Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” by Ada Limón (https://poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/old-school/on-sor-juana-in%C3%A9s-de-la-cruz)
• “Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sor-juana)
• “Teaching Women’s History: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Feminist Poet of New Spain” by The New York Historical (https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/juana-ines-de-la-cruz-feminist-poet-of-new-spain)
• “Understanding the Mexican Casta System: A Historical and Cultural Perspective” (https://www.indigenousmexico.org/articles/understanding-the-mexican-casta-system-a-historical-and-cultural-perspective)

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In 1998, genetic scientific evidence confirmed nearly two centuries of rumors: Sally Hemings' children were, in fact, fathered by Thomas Jefferson. After her return to the United States, Sally bore seven children with four surviving to adulthood. The births of her children coincided with the times Jefferson returned to Monticello over the years.

Sally's four surviving children were all freed by age 21, giving us evidence that Jefferson kept the promise he made to her in Paris. Sally left Monticello after Jefferson's death, living with her sons in Virginia until her death in 1835. She wasn't formally freed until 1836.

In agreeing to return to the United States, she gifted her children freedom some forty years before the Emancipation Proclamation.

Come along with us as we discuss the release of the DNA evidence confirming Sally and Jefferson's relationship, how her children felt about Jefferson, and her legacy through history and astrology!

This episode contains discussions of slavery, non-consensual sex, coercion, graphic violence, and abuse.

Sources

Articles:

• “Sally Hemings: Writing the Life of an Enslaved Woman” by Anette Gordon-Reed in The Routledge Companion to Black Women’s Cultural Histories
• "Slavery Legalized" by Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia (https://vascw.org/cool_timeline/slavery-legalized/)
• "The Slaves' Story" (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/slaves/)
• “Statement on the TJMF Research Committee Report on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings” by Daniel P. Jordan, Ph.D. (https://monticello-www.s3.amazonaws.com/files/old/inline-pdfs/jefferson-hemings_report.pdf)
• "Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia" in Encyclopedia Virginia (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jefferson-thomas-as-governor-of-virginia/)
• "When the Past Speaks to the Present: Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings" by Annette Gordon-Reed (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/when-past-speaks-present-thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings)

Books:

• Many Thousands Gone by Ira Berlin
• Reclamation by Gayle Jessup White
• Sally Hemings: Given Her Time by Leigh Fought
• Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy by Anette Gordon-Reed

Digital Media:

• "The Founding Mothers, 2: Martha Jefferson & Sally Hemings" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDh5pWqBIxs)
• "Unearthing Sally Hemings' legacy at Monticello" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gm3HtijrMQ)

Primary Sources:

• "An act concerning Servants and Slaves" (1705) (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/an-act-concerning-servants-and-slaves-1705/)
• The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
• "Jefferson Condemns the Slave Trade in the Declaration of Independence" (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/jefferson-condemns-slave-trade-declaration-independence)
• “Laws of Virginia, Act XII (1662)” (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/origins-enslavement/laws-virginia-act-xii-1662)
• “The Memoirs of Madison Hemings” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html)

Websites:

• “The Life of Sally Hemings” (https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/)
• “Reproduction and Resistance” (https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/hidden-voices/resisting-enslavement/reproduction-and-resistance)
• "Sally Hemings" (https://jamesedwardmills.substack.com/p/sally-hemmings)

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On July 15, 1787, 14 year old Sally Hemings arrived in Paris, France with Martha "Patsy" Jefferson. For the first time in her short life, she was on free soil. As a young woman owned by Thomas Jefferson, she'd never had the possibility of freedom in front of her before. She and her brother James were paid wages by Jefferson while in Paris, setting into motion a legacy she wouldn't see realized until 36 years later.

Upon leaving Paris, Sally was pregnant with Jefferson's child. According to her son Madison, she refused to return to the United States with him. Sally agreed to return after Jefferson promised that she would receive "extraordinary privileges" and that her children would be freed at 21 years old.

Sally had 4 children that survived to adulthood and in 1998 were proven by DNA evidence to be fathered by Thomas Jefferson.

Come along with us as we explore the life of this extraordinary woman revealed by scientific evidence, debate, and a mother's love through history and astrology!

This episode contains discussions of slavery, non-consensual sex, coercion, graphic violence, and abuse.

Sources

Articles:

• “Sally Hemings: Writing the Life of an Enslaved Woman” by Anette Gordon-Reed in The Routledge Companion to Black Women’s Cultural Histories
• "Slavery Legalized" by Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia (https://vascw.org/cool_timeline/slavery-legalized/)
• "The Slaves' Story" (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/slaves/)
• “Statement on the TJMF Research Committee Report on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings” by Daniel P. Jordan, Ph.D. (https://monticello-www.s3.amazonaws.com/files/old/inline-pdfs/jefferson-hemings_report.pdf)
• "Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia" in Encyclopedia Virginia (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jefferson-thomas-as-governor-of-virginia/)
• "When the Past Speaks to the Present: Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings" by Annette Gordon-Reed (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/when-past-speaks-present-thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings)

Books:

• Many Thousands Gone by Ira Berlin
• Reclamation by Gayle Jessup White
• Sally Hemings: Given Her Time by Leigh Fought
• Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy by Anette Gordon-Reed

Digital Media:

• "The Founding Mothers, 2: Martha Jefferson & Sally Hemings" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDh5pWqBIxs)
• "Unearthing Sally Hemings' legacy at Monticello" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gm3HtijrMQ)

Primary Sources:

• "An act concerning Servants and Slaves" (1705) (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/an-act-concerning-servants-and-slaves-1705/)
• The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
• "Jefferson Condemns the Slave Trade in the Declaration of Independence" (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/jefferson-condemns-slave-trade-declaration-independence)
• “Laws of Virginia, Act XII (1662)” (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/origins-enslavement/laws-virginia-act-xii-1662)
• “The Memoirs of Madison Hemings” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html)

Websites:

• “The Life of Sally Hemings” (https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/)
• “Reproduction and Resistance” (https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/hidden-voices/resisting-enslavement/reproduction-and-resistance)
• "Sally Hemings" (https://jamesedwardmills.substack.com/p/sally-hemmings)

Support Us!
Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast