Exploring the Ohio River with Captain Lewis
Tuesday, June 24 2025
Following the path of Meriwether Lewis, Clay notes that while the famous explorer could be an outstanding journal writer, he was frustratingly unreliable in keeping a daily account of his transcontinental travels. No known journals exist for about half of the 28-month expedition.
- Published in Features
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at University of Virginia — Video Dispatch
Friday, June 06 2025
On his recent visit to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clay visited the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on campus. Dedicated in 2021, the memorial commemorates the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who worked on the University between 1817 and 1865.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
University of Virginia: The Architecture of Education and Democracy — Video Dispatch
Monday, June 02 2025
Thomas Jefferson conceived and designed the University of Virginia as a unique “Academic Village” where students and professors would live and learn together.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Clay Tours Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Estate — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
As a kickoff for his 2025 Lewis and Clark trek, Clay visited and toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s primary home and plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Peaks of Otter — Thomas Jefferson Speculated America’s Tallest Mountains — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
Clay checks out The Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which Thomas Jefferson speculated were the country’s tallest mountains.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Spot That Made Thomas Jefferson Swoon: A Visit to Natural Bridge — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 20 2025
Clay stopped by Natural Bridge State Park in the Shenandoah Valley. The site so captivated Thomas Jefferson that he purchased it from King of England in 1774.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Visiting Thomas Jefferson’s Private Personal Retreat — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 13 2025
Kicking off his 2025 transcontinental Lewis and Clark trek, Clay spends the day at Poplar Forest, the beloved personal retreat of Thomas Jefferson, the mastermind behind the famous Corps of Discovery.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Delightful Ignorance: Jefferson and the American West
Monday, May 12 2025
Clay begins his 2025 Lewis and Clark transcontinental journey in the land of Thomas Jefferson, the patron saint of the famous 1804-1806 expedition.
- Published in Features
A Word About Dictionaries
Sunday, April 20 2025
A short dissertation on my infatuation with dictionaries.
- Published in Books
Join Clay at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Home and Help Kick Off LTA’s 2025 Lewis and Clark Adventure
Tuesday, April 15 2025
Clay will lecture at 2:00 p.m., May 6, 2025 on Thomas Jefferson’s vision for Lewis and Clark’s “Corps of Discovery.”
- Published in Dispatches from the Road