SPRING 2011 www.monticello.org VOLUME 22, NUMBER 1 Naturalized on the Fourth of July

BECOMING AN AMERICAN CITI- Charlottesville. During her time in ZEN MAY NOT HAVE BEEN EASY. Charlottesville, Carr became inter- In fact, for Ladislava “Ladi” Carr it ested in Thomas Jefferson and his was a lot of work. Between filling ideas. When she decided to apply out paperwork and making trips to for citizenship, she knew there was Northern Virginia, the process was no other place she would rather be tedious and time-consuming. Plus, naturalized. Carr had specifics in mind for her “Being one of the people who was naturalization ceremony. naturalized here, it makes you feel like “I knew I wanted to get naturalized a special citizen, because it’s very few at Monticello on the Fourth of July,” people who can go through that expe- said Carr. rience. It’s pretty amazing,” said Carr. But it didn’t look like her visions Thomas Jefferson and Monticello of red, white and blue on the West have become such an important part New American citizen Lawn were going to come true. Carr’s in her life, Carr returns each year Ladi Carr with her family naturalization ceremony was set for to watch new citizens take the oath. on July 4, 2009 May 8 at the courthouse. She decided Even her son’s name has a Jefferson to reject her first citizenship date. tie. Carr and her husband named “My husband was worried about At the time she wrote the letter, him Sebastian Dabney Carr, after me risking it. He didn’t want me to Carr had no idea that Perriello was Jefferson’s childhood best friend, have to go through the process again. the scheduled Independence Day and Dabney Carr. You only get three tries,” said Carr. Naturalization Ceremony speaker at When asked what it means to her Taking action into her own hands, Monticello. She was just excited to be to be an American citizen, Carr says, Carr wrote to Congressman Tom one of the few dozen scheduled to say “You are feeling very responsible, like Perriello. their citizenship vows on the stairs the leader of the free world, in one “I wrote him a long note about how outside Monticello. person. As one person I am repre- much I am in love with Monticello, Born in the small village of Velkay senting all these ideas, these thoughts. Charlottesville and Albemarle Ujezd in former Czechoslovakia, My first thought is that if people County,” said Carr. “Two weeks later I Carr first came to America in 1993. know I’m American, they need to got a letter saying I would be natural- She lived in New York for a while, know, feel and believe how good we ized at Monticello.” before moving with her husband to are, how helpful we can be.”

Monticello is a newsletter published twice yearly by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., the private, nonprofit corporation that has owned and operated Monticello since 1923. Its mission is preservation and education. Questions, comments and address changes should be directed to: Monticello Newsletter, P.O. Box 217, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902; [email protected]; or (434) 984-9822.