{"product_id":"the-levy-family-and-monticello-18341923-saving-thomas-jeffersons-house","title":"The Levy Family and Monticello  1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House","description":"\u003cp\u003eEach year more than a half-million people from around the world visit Monticello  but few realize that Thomas Jeffersons house was also home to the family of U.S. Navy Captain Uriah P. Levy and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy  a United States Congressman. Even fewer realize that without the Levy familys stewardship  there might not be a Monticello to visit. Although the Levys literally saved Monticello from ruin--not once  but twice--in the nineteenth century  and actually owned the property longer than Jefferson  the familys vital contributions to preserving Thomas Jeffersons home have been largely ignored or minimized. In a story filled with drama  irony  political wrangling  and legal battles  Professor Melvin I. Urofsky corrects the misconception that a \"century of ruin and neglect\" marked Monticello between Jeffersons death and the creation of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation  the private  nonprofit organization that today owns and operates Monticello. The story of the Levys and Monticello is a story of the blending of cultures and personalities  of Yankees and Virginians  of Jews and Christians  of city folk and rural people. It is the story of the power of a symbol  and how in America such symbols cut across lines of religion and class and ethnicity. And behind all of this is the towering presence of Thomas Jefferson.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44955096383541,"sku":"ByrdShop_1882886151","price":28.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781882886159.jpg?v=1770394836","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-levy-family-and-monticello-18341923-saving-thomas-jeffersons-house","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}