OCH Publications > Oregon Humanities table of contents
Oregon Humanities is a journal of ideas and perspectives published twice a year by the Oregon Council for the Humanities. Each issue includes essays and articles that explore a particular theme from a variety of perspectives, broadening the ways in which readers think about a subject and providing a basis for further thoughtful discussion.
Oregon Humanities Fall/Winer 2007
- Kathleen Holt
- EDITOR
- Jennifer Viviano
- GRAPHIC DESIGN
- Leigh van der Werff
- PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANT
- Allison Dubinsky
- COPY EDITOR
- Editorial Advisory Board
- Tom Booth
- Brian Doyle
- Debra Gwartney
- Julia Heydon
- Marianne Keddington-Lang
- Guy Maynard
- Win McCormack
- Camela Raymond
- Kate Sage
- Linny Stovall
- Rich Wandschneider
- Curt Yehnert
Oregon Humanities, a journal of ideas and perspectives about the humanities, is published biannually by the Oregon Council for the Humanities, 812 SW Washington Street, Suite 225, Portland, Oregon 97205.
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Reading Houses: Monticello
From its architecture to the tiniest details of its engineering, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello says, "Here lived a man of the Enlightenment," that age of ecstatic self-awareness and scientific curiosity.
True to eighteenth-century aesthetics, Jefferson used Roman neoclassical architecture in his design. He studded the walls of the entrance with reproduced works of the Old Masters and added busts of Voltaire, hero of the Age of Reason, and Alexander Hamilton, hero of the new nation. John Trumbull's painting The Signing of the Declaration of Independence and an embellished print of the Declaration itself evince Jefferson's awareness of himself as a historical figure.
A prominent characteristic of the Enlightenment was a new belief in observation as the basis of knowledge. Jefferson's fascination with natural science is shown in the large collection of bones, antlers, and maps displayed in the entrance, while more than forty Native American artifacts reflect his (and his era's) interest in exploration.
Jefferson loved innovations, such as the clever two-faced clock that could be read from both inside and outside the house. (The clock also reveals his feelings about class: the outside face lacked a minute hand because Jefferson thought hourly time accurate enough for outdoor laborers, while the inside face divided time into minutes and seconds.) With a weathervane visible from his bedroom, Jefferson made meticulous daily observations of the direction and velocity of the wind.
Jefferson's ingenuity, spurred by a love of efficiency and tweaked by whimsy, is evident in the alcove bed accessible from two sides, numerous mirrors installed to maximize light, dumbwaiters in the dining room, two holes cut in the entranceway floor so the weights of the two-faced clock (which had been designed for a different home) could "descend naked," Jefferson said, and the "turning machine," a spiral contraption for efficiently storing his clothes.
Monticello gives us a picture of Thomas Jefferson--the class-conscious public servant, yes, but also a fine architect, keen scientist, and inventor with flair.
--Diana Coogle
Published in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Oregon Humanities.
© 2007 Oregon Council for the Humanities