“Slavery at Monticello” — will it tell the whole story?

This year, the National Constitution Center (NCC) will host the exhibition Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello, organized by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (the latter’s permanent home next to the Washington Monument is scheduled for completion in 2015).

According to the NCC, the show explores this “conflicted” and “complex” period of American history through an examination of life on our third president’s 5,000-acre Virginia plantation. But the NCC was established by Congress to educate the public about the Constitution in a “non-partisan” manner, and one wonders, with adjectives like that heralding the show’s approach, how deep into darkness it will plunge.

As the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson penned its statement “All men are created equal...endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But he believed blacks inferior to whites. According to Monticello.org, Jefferson owned over 600 slaves during his lifetime, through purchases, inheritances, and the “natural increase of enslaved families” — in other words, children born for Jefferson's profit. He sold them or gave them as gifts. His plantation overseers flogged slaves as they saw fit. When some tried to escape, Jefferson hired slave-catchers or offered rewards to retrieve them. When George Washington died, his will freed his slaves upon his wife’s death. When Jefferson died, he freed five, and they may have been his own descendants.

The exhibit will tell this story with the assistance of more than 280 objects. These include Jefferson’s silver eyeglasses and his whalebone, gold, and silver walking stick. The slaves are represented by toothbrush handles and other domestic artifacts. More than 180 interviews of descendants of Jefferson’s slaves were condensed into a three-minute video, which allots each interviewee one second to express an opinion.

The National Constitution Center will host Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello, presented by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, from April 9 - October 19, 2014. Admission is $14.50 for adults, $13 for seniors, and $8 for those 4-12. Active military personnel and kids three years old and under are free. For tickets and more information, call 215-409-6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.