Contained are the research notes, diagrams, and papers of genealogist and historian Dr. Thomas D. Best. Materials focus on, and substantiate, the Hall family line of Best's genealogy, in particular, the presence of his great-great grandmother Eliza Jefferson Hall, who he claims is Harriet Hemings, daughter of the enslaved Sally Hemings and the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas David Best was born on October 8, 1943, in Sacramento, California. He graduated from Highlands High School in 1961, soon after starting the civil engineering program at Sacramento State College (SSC). After one year, Best transferred to American River Junior College (ARJC). Upon finishing an associate's degree at ARJC in 1964, he returned to SSC, graduating in 1967 with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. After his time at SSC, Best went to work as a bridge engineer and then industrial engineer for the California Department of Transportation. In 1975, he graduated with a master's degree in industrial engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and, in 1979, graduated with a doctorate in industrial engineering. In 1980, Best joined the Business School at Sacramento State University as an Associate Professor of Management. He was then promoted to Professor of Operations Management in 1986 and taught production management and inventory control before retiring in 1999.

1.5 Linear Feet 2 archival boxes and 1 archival folder

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