On May 1, 2003, Annette Gordon-Reed received the Pulitzer Prize for her book Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, a work that reshaped historical discourse around race, power, and American founding myths. Though the book was published in the late ’90s, it was on May 1 that she was formally recognized for her role in proving the truth of Jefferson’s relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings. Her scholarship challenged mainstream historians and validated oral histories long held within African American communities. Gordon-Reed’s work helped redefine American history by centering enslaved people’s voices.
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