Between the Tea Party and Christian revisionism of America’s founding, the chattering class has bubbled and frothed over what Madison and Hamilton really intended with the Constitution, or whether George Washington believed in the resurrection of Jesus. The usually unstated idea of such debates is that if only those dead white dudes had told us exactly what to do, our problems would be solved. Unsurprisingly, debates over buildings at UVA, highlighted in this week’s feature, tend to come back to WWJD—what would Jefferson design? A traditionalist faction pushes Lawn lite, as if white columns and red bricks were architecture’s alpha and omega. The contemporary camp meanwhile has advocated for sometimes faddish designs that laymen often find difficult to love. Jefferson is enlisted on both sides—he designed the Lawn but was infatuated with innovations. Whether about the Constitution or the South Lawn, such questions usually bring to mind a favorite Jefferson quote: “The earth belongs to the living.” Read the cover story here, and don’t forget to leave comments.
Related stories
DOJ claims SPLC misled donors and funded hate groups
In an April 21 indictment, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The full indictment details SPLC’s collaboration with and payment of an informant, F-37, who was a member of an “online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite […]
