SHADWELL, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Current and past people working at Monticello are lamenting the death of long-time Jefferson Foundation leader Dan Jordan (JER-dan) March 21 at age 85. Foundation special projects curator Susan Stein said while they worked for Jordan, he always said they worked WITH him, and that meant a collegial and collaborative team of scholarship.

Stein says Jordan courageously led the effort in embracing the story of Monticello’s enslaved community, and tours began covering it. The Foundation, under his leadership, acquired Mount Alto which was Jefferson’s high mountain looking over Monticello. And during his tenure, the Foundation concluded Jefferson may have fathered two of Sally Hemings’ children… which the Foundation has since concluded he definitely did.

See below for the Foundation obit:

Dr. Daniel P. (Dan) Jordan, Historian and Who Led and Transformed Monticello, Dies at 85

Charlottesville, VA – Dr. Daniel P. (Dan) Jordan (pronounced “Jerdan”), the distinguished historian who led and transformed Monticello for over two decades as president and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, passed away on March 21 at the age of 85. A native Mississippian, Dr. Jordan had a remarkable career that spanned the worlds of academia, public history, and national leadership.

From 1985 to 2008, Dr. Jordan headed the nonprofit Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello. His leadership transformed Monticello’s administration, programming, and facilities. As an administrator, he raised over $210 million and grew the foundation’s endowment from zero to over $120 million. During his tenure, Monticello and the “Academical Village” at the University of Virginia were placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. As a scholar and educator, he and by example, Monticello, shifted historic sites’ interpretation away from veneration and toward scholarship. In addition, several initiatives during his time championed a more inclusive approach to history. These included the launch of slavery tours at Monticello (1993), the “Getting Word” project (1993) which gathered oral histories from the descendants of enslaved people at Monticello, and the public acceptance of the scholarly consensus that Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings (1998). Finally, Monticello’s facilities literally transformed how visitors approached Monticello: the popular Saunders-Monticello Trail along Route 53 was added, an entrance bridge to promote safety was constructed, and an on-site visitors center was built.

Current foundation President Jane Kamensky described Jordan as “the most consequential president on the Mountaintop since Jefferson himself. . . . To look at Monticello is to remember [Dan].”

Longtime colleagues and friends recall that his work to transform Monticello was advanced by relationships. They recalled that his by-word was “You can never have enough good will,” noting that he was a prolific writer of thank-you notes. His door was always open, and he delighted in welcoming people to Monticello, whether those people were newly-sworn citizens, friends of friends, or governors or presidents.

Jordan published three books and over 80 articles and essays in scholarly journals. He gave hundreds of lectures across the United States, including at the White House and U.S. Capitol. He testified before Congress three times and made regular national television appearances, including the Ken Burns documentary “Thomas Jefferson.” Media coverage of the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson in 1993 reached an audience in excess of 200 million people.

Jordan also held leadership roles for organizations like the National Parks Advisory Board, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Virginia Historical Society, and many others.

He earned his bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi, where he was a scholarship athlete in baseball and basketball while serving as student body president; this is also where he met his future wife, Lewellyn “Lou” Schmelzer. Later he served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving in South Korea, Italy, and Germany. Afterwards, he completed his Ph.D. in history at the University of Virginia, where he was a Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Fellow. Later, he taught at the University of Richmond and for 15 years was a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he won two “Teacher of the Year” awards and a history scholarship is named for him.

Among his numerous honors were the U.S. Department of Interior’s highest civilian award, being named Virginia’s Outstanding Virginian for 2006, induction into the alumni halls of fame at University of Mississippi and University of Virginia, an honorary doctorate, and local and national awards recognizing his exceptional service and scholarship.

He is survived by his wife and partner of more than 62 years, Lou; his brother Joseph Lodwick Jordan; and his three children Dan, Grace, and Katherine, plus their families.

A visitation will be held on March 27, 2024, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Teague Funeral Home, 2260 Ivy Road. A celebration of life will follow on March 28, 1:00pm at the University of Virginia Alumni Hall, 211 Emmet Street.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the history departments at the University of Mississippi or the University of Virginia, or to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Charlottesville.