Virginia
Three Friends: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe
Program No. 9113RJ
Dive into history as you explore the legacies of three early American presidents, discovering historic architecture, period music, stunning artwork and a living-history presentation.
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4 days
3 nights
8 meals
3B 2L 3D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Three Presidents
Charlottesville
2
Noble Triumvirate, Montpelier, Highland, Enslaved Families
Charlottesville
3
Plantation Community, UVA, Monticello, Period Music
Charlottesville
4
Silent Voices: Women, Slaves, Free Blacks, Meet Col. Monroe
Charlottesville
At a Glance
Explore the friendship among three U.S. presidents — Jefferson, Madison, Monroe — as you journey back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the time when these great men lived, worked, laughed and loved. Learn about their personal stories and the historic events that drew them together, explore their views on contemporary issues such as religion and slavery and delve into the lasting contributions each made to our nation.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to two miles per day; some uneven terrain and stairs.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Visit the historic homes of these American patriarchs — Jefferson's Monticello, Monroe's Highland and Madison's Montpelier.
- Investigate the connection between Jefferson's educational vision and design of his university while strolling the grounds with an expert.
- Enjoy an evening of music from the period in which these men lived, and meet one of them in an interactive living-history presentation.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Dennis Bigelow
For more than a decade, Dennis Bigelow has interpreted the character of President James Monroe for the College of William & Mary at Highland, Monroe's home in Albemarle County, Virginia. He has performed at the White House, Colonial Williamsburg, the Virginia State House, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and other venues. He shares ancestral grandparents with Thomas Jefferson through the Randolph family as well as Chief Justice John Marshall, a great friend of Monroe and a maternal ancestral uncle.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Eileen Wells
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Eileen Wells was raised in New York and New Jersey and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French from Bucknell University. Upon arriving in Newport News, VA, she went to work using her degree to schedule the construction of navy frigates at Newport News Shipbuilding. Moving to Williamsburg, she followed a winding path before arriving at her dream job — being a Road Scholar group leader for over a decade. Eileen now lives in Charlottesville to be closer to her four grandchildren.
Dennis Bigelow
View biography
For more than a decade, Dennis Bigelow has interpreted the character of President James Monroe for the College of William & Mary at Highland, Monroe's home in Albemarle County, Virginia. He has performed at the White House, Colonial Williamsburg, the Virginia State House, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and other venues. He shares ancestral grandparents with Thomas Jefferson through the Randolph family as well as Chief Justice John Marshall, a great friend of Monroe and a maternal ancestral uncle.
Miranda Burnett
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Miranda Burnett, research librarian for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, received an MA in French from the University of South Carolina, and — after teaching high school French and Latin for a few years — earned an MS in library and information science at FSU. She moved to the Charlottesville area in 2008, becoming involved with the Scottsville Museum. She joined JMRL in 2016 as a substitute reference librarian, moving to Northside Library as a reference librarian in 2017 before accepting the position of historical collections librarian.
Gaye S. Wilson
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Gaye Wilson is a senior fellow with the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, the academic branch of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello. Over 25 years, she has researched, written, and published papers on Jefferson's America and the times and the people involved in the founding of the early American republic. Her latest book, 'Jefferson on Display: Attire, Etiquette, and the Art of Presentation,' was published by the University of Virginia Press in 2018.
Su Tarr
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Su Tarr's musical talents have been obvious from childhood when she won a concerto competition at the age of 9 and played with the Cleveland Symphony. As an adult, she has played in the Charleston, Huntington (WVA), and Richmond Symphonies. Su has been a balladeer in Colonial Williamsburg since 1997. She is well known in Virginia as a singer and fiddler for Southern Horizon, a group which performs music of the American Civil War. Altogether, Su has been performing for over 42 years.
Bethany McGlyn
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Bethany McGlyn is a Ph.D. student and Jefferson Scholars Foundation Fellow at the University of Virginia studying slavery, craft labor, and material culture in the 18th-century American South and Atlantic World. She holds an M.A. from the University of Delaware's Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and has worked in curatorial departments at Historic Rock Ford, Historic Annapolis, the National Parks Service, and Winterthur.
Holly Good
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Holly Good graduated from the UVA School of Architecture with her bachelor's and master's in architectural history in 2018 and 2019, respectively. She focused on historic preservation and vernacular architecture. During that time, she interned with the Historic Preservation department and had the pleasure of working on the Rotunda renovation. Since graduation, she has consulted for 106 Group, a cultural resources firm. Currently, she stays home with her two small children, with the occasional consultation.
Rick Salamida
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Richard J. Salamida holds an M.S. in manufacturing systems engineering from Lehigh University, a B.S. in Computer Science from Rochester Institute of Technology, and an A.A.S. in mathematics from Herkimer County Community College. His career spans both the commercial and service industries, with over 30 years in consulting, business process improvement, and technical analysis in HR/payroll systems. He also owned and operated businesses in the restaurant and technology sectors, later transitioning into the travel industry as a group leader.
Suggested Reading List
(18 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Three Friends: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe
Program Number: 9113
James Madison: A Biography
James Monroe: A Life
The Jefferson Hour
Thomas Jefferson: Writings: Autobiography/Notes of the State of Virginia/Public and Private Papers/Addresses/Letters.
Slavery at Monticello.
The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States of America and History of the Monroe Doctrine
Jefferson on Display: Attire, Etiquette, and the Art of Presentation
James Madison: Writings.
The Political Philosophy of James Madison
In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson.
James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic.
A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons
Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.
The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe
Jefferson and Monticello: Biography of a Builder
American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson