Thomas Jefferson and UVA

"I have often though that if heaven had given me a choice of my position and calling, it would have been on a rich spot of earth...No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden." 

                                                                 -Thomas Jefferson, 1811

Thomas Jefferson is well known as a forefather of this country, a leader, and an academic. It is rare to hear his penchant for gardening talked about in everyday conversation, but for Jefferson, gardening was a passion. He incorporated his love for nature and gardening into every aspect of his life, even academics. For Jefferson, learning was a crucial part of life. He was always looking forward, hoping to prepare the fledgling nation academically and horticulturally for the future. These passions combined in his architectural and environmental designs for both Monticello and the University of Virginia.

Monticello, originally a small eight room villa, was turned into a large twenty-one room mansion under the watchful eye of Jefferson after he returned home from the White House. Each of the rooms was carefully decorated with different elements of the outdoors. Jefferson carefully designed the grounds upon which the home was built, just as carefully as the interior of the home.  Jefferson wanted to make sure that everyone who visited his home had an opportunity to experience the natural setting surrounding the home. He kept many of the natural elements of the landscape, like the Blue Ridge Mountains, rivers, forests, and natural plants visible from the winding drive leading to the home. The journey from the main road to Monticello took visitors on a journey through the woods, next to carefully planted ornamental gardens, and along orchards, planted with hundreds of different species of fruits that Jefferson had collected through his many years of travel.  This is where his academic curiosity was most visible at Monticello. His academic curiosity was also strongly presented in his creation of the University of Virginia.

            Jefferson helped found the University of Virginia in 1819. His goal was to create a new kind of university; one which was publicly supported, nonsectarian, and dedicated to educating leaders. Jefferson considered the founding of the University of Virginia to be one of his greatest achievements. He carefully planned out the new university, much like he helped plan our nation from its founding. He carefully selected the 8 faculty when the University opened with classes offered in everything from ancient languages to law and medicine. Most interestingly, although the University was founded in 1819, it did not hand out its first degree until 1824, 5 years later. This was all part of Jefferson’s plan, as he did not believe in degrees, he thought of them only as “artificial embellishments.” I believe this truly speaks to the love and importance Jefferson placed on academics. He didn't want anyone trying to learn just to get somewhere else; he wanted people to learn for its innate value. This focus on academics is once again present in his architectural and environmental designs of the University’s campus.

               

                The University of Virginia was the physical manifestation of his educational, political, and cultural ideals. He designed the “academical village,” to be one where students and faculty lived close together, with the classroom nearby, helping to unite the living and learning arenas. Jefferson organized these building around “The Lawn,” and ended the space with the Rotunda. The Rotunda was designed by Jefferson as the architectural and academic heart of the “academical village.” The Rotunda originally served as a library, showing Jefferson’s belief that a university should have its focus set on a collection of academic achievements. The Rotunda was one of Jefferson’s favorite pieces of the University, although he did not live to see it completed, as it was the last building to be finished.  Jefferson planned the Rotunda around the Pantheon in Rome. The Rotunda is an exact copy, but with reduced measurements, as Jefferson did not want the Rotunda to dwarf the other buildings along the lawn. The Rotunda stayed in it’s original construction until 1853, when Robert Mills was hired to build an annex on the north side of the building to allow room for more classrooms. Sadly, in October of 1895, faulty electrical wiring in the annex started a fire. In an attempt to save the Rotunda, one of the professors attempted to dynamite the bridge between the annex and the Rotunda, blowing a hole in the Rotunda, and sadly causing the fire to spread more rapidly. The Rotunda was then rebuilt larger and with new materials, to help prevent future disasters. The building remained in this new fashion from 1898 to 1973, until it was finally transformed back to Jefferson’s original design. Besides the architecture, the grounds of the University of Virginia also contain more than ten carefully planned out garden pavilions. Jefferson’s hope was that the students would take an interest in gardening, as well as find solace walking through them. Many of these gardens remain to this day.

The buildings and the grounds at both Monticello and the University of Virginia are so beautiful, it is easy to forget how prudently planned they were by Thomas Jefferson almost 200 hundred years ago. So beautiful in fact, that the grounds of the University of Virginia and Monticello have been named a World Heritage Site on UNESCO’s list which includes other great architectural wonders like the Taj Mahal and the palace of Versailles. The plans were deeply rooted in Jefferson’s passion for agriculture, horticulture and knowledge, to create a stunning landscape to this day.

 From The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, The Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library. Thomas Jefferson's Plan for the University of Virginia: Lessons from the Lawn. National Park Service, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.

 Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. UNESCO, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/442>.

 University of Virginia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. <http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory/>.