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Memorial Unveiling Will Celebrate Significant Link With The United States

Date:

2005-07-28
Americans from among The Welsh Abroad will visit the National Museums & Galleries of Wales's stand at this year's Eisteddfod to commemorate Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States. A special ceremony will take place on the afternoon of 4 August to unveil a memorial to Jefferson made of Welsh slate, after the end of the annual Welsh Abroad event.

Wales has all sorts of connections with North America and it is reckoned that about two million of the United States population is aware of their Welsh ancestry. It is believed that 11 former Presidents and 17 signatories of the Declaration of Independence had Welsh backgrounds. One of these was Thomas Jefferson, because of the claim he had family connections with the slate quarrying areas at the foot of Snowdon. Although there is no way of proving this today, it is certain that the slate quarrying areas, along with many other parts of Wales, have close connections with the United States.

Quarrymen and their families were among the thousands who emigrated from Wales in the past to take advantage of the burgeoning economy of the United States and to escape from the oppression of greedy landlords of the time and live the American Dream and all it promised. There were dozens of slate quarries in the Granville area of New York State with names such as 'Arvon' and 'Penrhyn' and a great many of the workforce were from Wales. The links continue to this day. The McAlpine company, for example, owns Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda and The Hilltop Quarry in New York State.

It is appropriate, therefore, that the Jefferson Memorial will be transferred after the Eisteddfod to the Welsh Slate Museum, Llanberis, where it will be placed in a prominent position.

Dr Dafydd Roberts, Keeper of the Welsh Slate Museum, said: 'It is important for us to keep alive our historical links with the United States and the Jefferson memorial is a special way of doing this. After all, we are also celebrating our contemporary connections.'

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Other NMGW sites are the National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff, Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagans, Big Pit: National Mining Museum, Blaenafon - winner of this year's prestigious Gulbenkian Prize - Roman Legionary Museum, Caerleon, and National Woollen Museum, Dre-fach Felindre. Opening later this year is the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, telling the innovative story of the peoples and industry of Wales.

Entry to all NMGW sites is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

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