geoff shepard was a white house fellow who was later assigned to the domestic council in the nixon administration. when the white house began requiring a legal defense as the watergate matter grew in 1973 and 74. jeff was the youngest lawyer on the team. he was the first to listen to the smoking gun tape. he coined the phrase smoking gun. in fact later. he was there in the east room on august 9th as president nixon said farewell to his staff. and geoff shepard was standing in the back of the east room, and he was not happy. after hearing the smoking gun tape people leave like many the president nixon was hiding the truth and had been for several years. and then jeff started digging. and he dug and he dug and he dug for 15 years. through the documents and through files that were once sealed. and jeff soon found out that what he was led to believe about watergate and indeed what the nation was led to believe was well. let s just say that there s more to the story. and i ll let
many of you know that gail had a long and successful journalism career. before she turned her sights. thank god she did to monticello. she came to us in 2016 as our first public relations and community engagement officer. and it s my delight to welcome her tonight as a colleague. but more importantly as an honored speaker. a common refrain in gail s book is and i quote giving voice to the ancestors. and she does that of course and we try to do that by telling their stories. she describes herself as when i quote a woman whose voice is used as an instrument. not for herself but for those written out of history. a woman who after a lifelong journey founder family her home her purpose end of quote and in part it was because of monticello s work to find and learn from the descendants of its enslaved community. in a project called getting word. that gale found more of her family and their story gail s courageous telling of her story and that of her family. provides an inspiration t
house as it all unfolded. geoff shepard was a white house fellow who was later assigned to the domestic council in the nixon administration. when the white house began requiring a legal defense as the watergate matter grew in 1973 and 74. jeff was the youngest lawyer on the team. he was the first to listen to the smoking gun tape. he coined the phrase smoking gun. in fact later. he was there in the east room on august 9th as president nixon said farewell to his staff. and geoff shepard was standing in the back of the east room, and he was not happy. after hearing the smoking gun tape people leave like many the president nixon was hiding the truth and had been for several years. and then jeff started digging. and he dug and he dug and he dug for 15 years. through the documents and through files that were once sealed. and jeff soon found out that what he was led to believe about watergate and indeed what the nation was led to believe was well. let s just say that there s more t
many of you know that gail had a long and successful journalism career. before she turned her sights. thank god she did to monticello. she came to us in 2016 as our first public relations and community engagement officer. and it s my delight to welcome her tonight as a colleague. but more importantly as an honored speaker. a common refrain in gail s book is and i quote giving voice to the ancestors. and she does that of course and we try to do that by telling their stories. she describes herself as when i quote a woman whose voice is used as an instrument. not for herself but for those written out of history. a woman who after a lifelong journey founder family her home her purpose end of quote and in part it was because of monticello s work to find and learn from the descendants of its enslaved community. in a project called getting word. that gale found more of her family and their story gail s courageous telling of her story and that of her family. provides an inspiration t
and let me tell you what she s lit again. she s litigated for the southern poverty law center in alabama the community legal services in philadelphia the national. naacp legal defense fund she addresses issues of law and justice nationally and internationally. she s been to god and rwanda and and england and wales and canada and south africa and before the united nations in geneva. she has addressed issues of law and justice. all of that gives her the credibility to write the books that she writes and speak on the topics that she speaks on. so, thank you. thank you, gloria. as an attorney as a professor as a playwright as an author. for being here thank you. and that long introduction makes me feel tired, but i want to make you feel tag as you did all that but i but it s to god be the glory and i i disappreciate the opportunity to use the skills as we ve done throughout all of our legacy and history the user skills. we have to to take our community forward. so i want to know