What was the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slaves?

Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy is the Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, as well as a Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He is the author of “An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean,” (2000) as well as the award-winning work, “The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire.” For that book, O’Shaughnessy won the prestigious 2014 George Washington BookClick here to listen to the podcast!

David Bruce Smith’s Grateful American™ Foundation is dedicated to restoring enthusiasm in American history for kids, and adults. Founded on President’s Day 2014, the mission of the organization is to provide insight and increase interest in the people and events that helped establish the United States. And the first phase of the project will highlight the work and lives of the founding presidents, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln. On July 4, 2016, David launched a new website that isClick here to listen to the podcast!

When it comes to restoring enthusiasm in American history, David Bruce Smith’s Grateful American™ Foundation likes to shine a spotlight on the people and organizations that are the best teachers of the topic. So it’s a great pleasure to interview Richard Semiatin (pictured right), the Academic Director of American Politics at American University — a man who has spent decades studying politicians and elections. Indeed, he is the author of “Campaigns in the 21st Century” (McGraw-Hill, 2004), and editor ofClick here to listen to the podcast!

“The complex relationship between Thomas Jefferson and slavery has been extensively studied and debated by his biographers and by scholars of slavery,” explains Ira Berlin, author of Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998). In fact, Jefferson owned hundreds of African-American slaves throughout his life. He acquired them by inheritance, marriage, births of slaves, and trade. It began when he was 21 in 1767, when Jefferson inherited 5,000Click here to listen to the podcast!

iHeart Radio host Pat Rullo has a passion for history. The author, radio show host, and health care / insurance industry expert knows that you have to understand the past to understand the future, so in this podcast asked David Bruce Smith, founder of the Grateful American™ Foundation: What inspired you to launch the Grateful American™ Foundation? What are your goals for the project? Do you think textbooks, which can be less than riveting, are part of the problem? AdultsClick here to listen to the podcast!

On January 1936, during the Great Depression, Virginia’s political and business leaders bravely demonstrated their faith in the future and their belief in the value of art by opening the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. The original English Renaissance-style building was designed by Peebles and Ferguson Architects of Norfolk. And in the years since, there have been five expansions, including the most recent (completed in 2010), designed by Rick Mather. This beautiful renovation houses the museum’s permanent collectionClick here to listen to the podcast!

When the 2015 awards were presented for the 41st annual National History Day Contest on June 15, Cathy Gorn was grinning from ear to ear. “These are my kids,” says the woman who has been at the helm of the international organization for decades. Indeed, more than 600,000 students from around the world competed in five categories: documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites. Why did nearly 3,000 middle and high school students present their work related to the 2015 theme,Click here to listen to the podcast!

American sculptor, painter, and inventor Ivan Schwartz says he has always been interested in what lies in his peripheral vision — exploring the shorthand of visual language as a storyteller. That ambition is clearly what draws us to his work, which is on public display around the country — including at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldier’s Home, the United States Constitution National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the New York Historical Society, in additionClick here to listen to the podcast!

What would the United States be like had President Lincoln lived? Those are but some of the questions David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs posed today to historian Allida Black, a Research Professor of History and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She is the founding editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, a project designed to preserve, teach and apply Eleanor Roosevelt’s writings and discussions of human rights and democratic politics. Black is also the 2001 Person ofClick here to listen to the podcast!

When it comes to knowing George and Martha Washington, it’s often hard to separate the real people from the stories we learned in school. So in this episode of the Grateful American™ TV Show, we get an all-access pass to learn more about America’s first president from Curt Viebranz, president and CEO of the Mt. Vernon Foundation. Co-hosts David Bruce Smith, creator of the Grateful American™ Foundation — and Hope Katz Gibbs, founder of Inkandescent Public Relations and executive producerClick here to listen to the podcast!

Bringing visitors to the hallowed ground where the founding fathers and mothers lived is the focus of most of the Grateful American Series. But at the New-York Historical Society, the focus is on hallowed objects, according to president and CEO Louise Mirrer, who joined the organization in June 2004. Under her guidance, the New-York Historical Society has reinvigorated its commitment to foster greater public understanding of history and its impact on the world of today. “Our goal is to supportClick here to listen to the podcast!

Shining a light on the stars of American history is the focus of the Grateful American™ Foundation. In this podcast for David Bruce Smith’s Grateful American ™ Radio Show, Smith and co-host Hope Katz Gibbs interview John Gray, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and Bruce Cole, the former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities — two men who have spent their careers bringing history to life. In this podcast you’ll learn: Research showsClick here to listen to the podcast!

John Gray has been the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History since July 23, 2012. He oversees 234 employees, a budget of more than $34 million and the renewal of the museum’s 120,000-square-foot west exhibition wing. Prior to this job, he spent much of his career in banking and government service until he became director of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles. There, he enlarged the museum’s mission and scope, and, in 2002, mergedClick here to listen to the podcast!

A Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a member of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, and a former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Those are just a few of the accomplishments of Bruce Cole. In this podcast interview for David Bruce Smith’s Grateful American™ Radio Show, Cole shares insights on: The work he does as a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center What he accomplished as a member ofClick here to listen to the podcast!

Doug Bradburn is the founding director of Mount Vernon’s Fred W. Smith National Library. In this episode of the Grateful American™ Radio Show, co-hosts David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs interview the specialist on George Washington, who provides insights in the man behind the myth. Before coming to run the library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Doug was a professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the History Department at Binghamton University. He taught college-level classes at a varietyClick here to listen to the podcast!

Bringing visitors to the hallowed ground where the Founding Fathers and Mothers lived is the focus of most of the Grateful American™ Series. So it is pleasure today to be with Cate Magennis Wyatt, founder and president of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. This is a National Heritage Area running from Gettysburg, PA, through Maryland and West Virginia, to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. The historical land, stretching 180 miles long and 75 miles wide, includes nine presidentialClick here to listen to the podcast!

What is the value of teaching more kids and adults about American history? That’s the question that Jim Basker asked GratefulAmericanFoundation.com founder David Bruce Smith. Basker clearly knows the value of having a comprehensive view of American history. Since 1997, he has been the president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which is headquartered in New York City. In that role, he has overseen the development of history education initiatives nationwide, including history high schools, teacher seminars, travelingClick here to listen to the podcast!

When it comes to teaching American history, James G. Basker is known for being able to bring to life the stories, facts, and events of the past. As president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History since 1997, Basker has overseen the development of history education initiatives nationwide—including history high schools, teacher seminars, traveling exhibitions, digital archives, and the National History Teacher of the Year Award program. In this podcast interview you’ll learn: What excites Basker most about AmericanClick here to listen to the podcast!

What were James and Dolley Madison really like? For insights into the lives of these founders of the country, we visited with Kat Imhoff, who has been president of The Montpelier Foundation since January 2013. You’ll be fascinated and delighted to learn more about this couple, including how quickly they married. Did you know: After a brief courtship spanning the spring and summer—26-year-old widow Dolley Payne Todd married 43-year-old Congressman James Madison on September 15, 1794. Her first husband, JohnClick here to listen to the podcast!

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,” President James Madison famously said in 1822. That quote is part of the inspiration for the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at Madison’s home, Montpelier, where Americans are able to increase their knowledge of the Constitution, better understand the thinking of the Founding Fathers, and engage in thought-provoking dialogues with historians, authors, and scholarsClick here to listen to the podcast!