I am stunned that in the July 4 USA Weekend magazine article, “Gardening the Founding Fathers’ Way,” the writer omitted the fact that Thomas Jefferson had those beautiful gardens because of the slave labor that lived and worked in tiny shacks next to those labor-intensive gardens. Having been to Monticello, I can attest to the beauty of the gardens and to the size of the accommodations for Jefferson’s slaves.

I have never been to Mount Vernon and do not know how Washington’s slaves were kept, other than busy in his gardens.

Penny Hood, Farmington

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