“A Founding Friendship and its Discontents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson”

Please note that the series package includes all 7 lectures taking place every Monday from January 26 to March 9, 2026. Tickets for individual lectures are also available for purchase for $35 each.

What is civic friendship, and why does it matter?  Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were founding friends in the 1770s who became factional foes in the 1790s, and distant enemies for over a decade thereafter. The remarkable reknitting of their relationship in the 1810s offers a model of frank disagreement navigated through shared commitment to the American project. Dr. Kamensky will show how Monticello is sharing their complex history. She will also explain how museums, historic sites, and other community learning partners can help revitalize the ties that bind Americans as a people.

Dr. Jane Kamensky is President and CEO of Monticello/The Thomas Jefferson Foundation. She earned her BA (1985) and PhD (1993) in history from Yale University. She was the Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard University before moving to Monticello. Her most recent book, Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution (2023) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She is a former Commissioner of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and past Trustee of the Museum of the American Revolution.