Monticello to reconstruct room of slave Sally Hemings

Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home, Monticello, is undergoing a major restoration, reports the Washington Post.

Among the changes underway is a reconstruction of the room that likely belonged to slave Sally Hemings.

Hemings is said to have had as many as six children fathered by Jefferson, notes NPR.

The space in the home believed to be occupied by her was transformed into a bathroom in 1941.

That remodel was part of an effort to downplay her involvement with Jefferson.

The goal this time around is to draw greater attention to Hemings and the other slaves owned by the 3rd U.S. president.

Christa Dierksheide, a historian of Monticello, told the Post, "Visitors will come up here and understand that there was no place on this mountaintop that slavery wasn't. Thomas Jefferson was surrounded by people, and the vast majority of those people were enslaved."

Other efforts towards that end include the rebuilding of a stable and a Mulberry Row workman's house.

Hemings' room is expected to be completed by next year.