Excavations. Correspondence, 1941-1946

Included here are correspondence, photographs, site plans, research material, and clippings pertaining to Kimball's varied involvement with Shadwell, a tract of land southeast of Monticello across the Rivanna River. Kimball successfully led the effort to definitively establish Shadwell as Jefferson's birthplace. He conducted archaeological excavations on the property in 1941 and 1942 on behalf of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, unearthing evidence of several structures. On April 13, 1945, he and his wife Marie participated in a conference sponsored by the Virginia Conservation Commission to debate whether Shadwell or Tufton was Jefferson's ancestral home. Kimball drafted the resolution adopted by the ad-hoc committee in support of Shadwell. Following the conference, the Thomas Jefferson Birthplace Commission was established with William Hildreth as President and Kimball as advisor. Hildreth served as Treasurer for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, and it was his intention to purchase the property, reconstruct the home of Jefferson's father, and present it to the Foundation to administer.