"This is the offering of the Ladies": Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson's War Years.

This article focuses on Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson’s role as an activist and leader of the Virginia ladies campaign during the American Revolution. In 1780, Martha Jefferson, wife of Governor Thomas Jefferson, mobilized elite women across Virginia to support the war effort by raising funds and morale, inspired by the Philadelphia campaign led by Esther De Berdt Reed and endorsed by Martha Washington. Despite limited surviving personal correspondence—largely destroyed by Thomas Jefferson—the article draws on extant letters, account books, and donation records to reveal Martha Jefferson’s political engagement, including her use of Virginia homespun textiles as a boycott symbol and her wartime hospitality to prisoners and diplomats. The campaign faced challenges due to Virginia’s British invasion in 1780–81, which disrupted fundraising and displaced many supporters, and ultimately faltered after Martha Jefferson’s death in 1782. The article highlights Martha Jefferson’s overlooked contributions as a revolutionary actor and organizer within Virginia’s elite female networks. [Extracted from the article]