“Writing Drayton Hall’s Next Chapter” by Robert Behre

Drayton Hall’s projecting double portico facing S.C. Highway 61 is considered the front of the house and is perhaps its most iconic feature. The renovation work, seen above, is expected to be done by year’s end. ROBERT BEHRE/STAFF

Great article in the Post & Courier by columnist Robert Behre on our new President and CEO Carter C. Hudgins, PhD., and Drayton Hall’s upcoming plans, including a new facility with exhibit space for many of the site’s collections objects and archaeological artifacts and a new nature trail around its historic rice ponds.

Post and Courier Online

Writing Drayton Hall’s Next Chapter by Robert Behre – Post and Courier – pdf

Read the transcript here:

Post and Courier – October 31, 2015

Writing Drayton Hall’s Next Chapter

By Robert Behre

It would not be inaccurate to say Carter C. Hudgins began his career at Drayton Hall by mowing the grass many years ago and now he is outstanding in his field.

Hudgins, who followed his father’s footsteps into a career of preservation, recently became president and CEO of the iconic Lowcountry house museum and one of South Carolina’s most famous and enduring works of architecture.

And he says the real change there is still to come.

Hudgins is taking the reins at a pivotal time as the site begins a new life, one directed by a local board, the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, rather than by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has given up control but still retains ownership.

He is quick to detail the plans, which include more staff, new buildings and a continued commitment to preserving and interpreting the mid-18th century house and its grounds.

“We are a world-class site,” he says. “We want a world-class engagement with the public.”

No, there are no plans to put furniture in the grand main house or restore it back to its original 1750 appearance.

But the trust expects to begin construction next year on a new building project that not only will handle the routine functions of a welcome center, gift shop and restrooms but will eventually display many of the furnishings and artifacts connected to the Drayton family and the home they built.

“We are actively acquiring objects,” Hudgins says. “We want to be able to show what was in the house, but not with the goal of refurnishing it.”

Instead, the goal is to expand visitors’ experiences without placing further wear and tear on the historic house itself.

Preservation is challenging here because the house is open to the public, and some 60,000 people a year visit it. That’s more feet and weight than most houses are designed for.

Balancing public access and preservation is the crux of Drayton Hall’s mission, and the new building will help.

Drayton Hall already has plenty of items to put in it. Its collection includes more than one million archaeological artifacts and several hundred individual other objects, including dozens of pieces of furniture, one of which is considered perhaps the finest ever produced in Colonial America.

The grounds also will get work soon, with plans to drain the ponds, trim vegetation from their banks and build a new nature trail around them.

Hudgins says Drayton Hall is working with Ducks Unlimited to make sure this work respects wildlife, not just history.

The new attention to Drayton Hall comes at an auspicious time, as there is a growing realization of the importance of how the history and architecture of the city of Charleston blends into the history and landscape of its surrounding plantations.

This interdependence is highlighted in the Charleston World Heritage’s efforts to get the Lowcountry listed as a world heritage site, the highest such designation possible.

The coalition’s new statement on Charleston’s significance begins, “The plantation culture of Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry represents an exceptional example of human manipulation of land to exploit natural resources and create a distinct social and economic system that infuenced the geo-cultural region from the late 17th into the late 19th centuries.”

That might sound a bit fancy and academic, but it really boils down to this: Preserving buildings and landscapes like Drayton Hall is every bit as critical as preservation downtown.

Reach Robert Behre at (843) 937-5771 or at twitter.com/RobertFBehre.

Preserving Our History, Telling Our Story: Drayton Hall Descendants Present at National Preservation Conference

From L-R: George W. McDaniel, executive director of Drayton Hall, Shelby Nelson, Catherine Brown Braxton, Rebecca Brown Campbell, Annie Brown Meyers, Charles Drayton, and Toni Carrier, founding director of Lowcountry Africana.

How do you research, document, and interpret the history of a community that has seemingly vanished from the landscape? A session last November at the National Preservation Conference in Savannah gave some answers. Organized by George W. McDaniel, executive director of Drayton Hall, the session featured Toni Carrier, founding director of Lowcountry Africana and former Wood Family Fellow, as well as five descendants of Drayton Hall: Catherine Brown Braxton, Rebecca Brown Campbell, Annie Brown Meyers, Charles Drayton, and Shelby Nelson. “Our purpose was to show how historic sites could recapture seemingly lost history and connect it to people today,” said McDaniel.

Entitled “Preserving Our History, Telling Our Story,” the session was the first offered at a National Trust conference that included descendants of a historic site as participants. They are connected to the site because their ancestors were either slaves or slave-owners at Drayton Hall. As with most historic sites today, these descendants never lived at Drayton Hall, but they have special memories and connections to the site, passed on from generation to generation, thanks in no small measure to the site’s preservation.

Together, the five descendants represent more than three centuries of American history. Shelby Nelson and Charles Drayton are both ninth-generation descendants of John Drayton, who established Drayton Hall in 1738. A video of their grandfather, the last member of the Drayton family to own Drayton Hall, was featured at the session. “I think the groundbreaking outreach underway at Drayton Hall towards being ‘the tie that binds us’ can become such a positive message for all historic sites and people alike,” explained Charles Drayton. The descendants shared with the audience their special memories of Drayton Hall, and also encouraged others to embrace the concept of shared histories in order to interpret all sides of the plantation experience.

Sisters Rebecca and Catherine started researching their family’s connection to Drayton Hall with the assistance of their cousin, Richmond Bowens, who was born in 1908 and was also a gatekeeper and historian at Drayton Hall. Annie’s mother and her aunts and uncles were all born at Drayton Hall in the early 20th century, and she is the niece of Richmond Bowens. According to their family’s oral history, their ancestors were brought from Barbados to the Carolina colony by the Draytons in the 1670s as enslaved people. They shared their family’s history and spoke about the importance of bridging the divide between the descendants of the enslaved and slaveholders.

During the session, Toni Carrier presented her in-depth research of primary sources, including written records, photographs, drawings, and even a memory map produced as a result of oral histories of Richmond Bowens. While the map identifies the locations of houses, stores, and graveyard of the post-Civil War African American community at Drayton Hall, there are no buildings standing and few photographic or documentary records remain in family possession.  Carrier researched this lost history, and put significant pieces of the puzzle back together again by interweaving oral history interviews with her dedicated research online of census records, deeds, marriage and death certificates, and other primary sources. As a result, she was able to write a brief history of each family’s home site and to characterize that landscape as having been occupied by a tight-knit community that valued hard work, cooperation, and education.

The session ended with a call to action for the audience to find out more about their own family histories. “For people who are interested in learning more about their family’s past, we would encourage them to commit to family, to learn their roots, to ask questions of their elders, and become engaged with their communities to promote and preserve their history,” said Rebecca. Eric Emerson, director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, reiterated that point and explained that this session has inspired sites in Kentucky and Tennessee to undertake such programs with descendants. In ways such as this, Drayton Hall makes a difference.

George W. McDaniel Delivers Keynote Speech at Historic Sites Luncheon

David Brown, executive vice president and chief preservation officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; George W. McDaniel, executive director of Drayton Hall; and Tom Mayes, deputy general counsel of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In November, George W. McDaniel was honored at the National Preservation Conference for his 25 years of service at Drayton Hall as executive director by being invited to deliver the keynote speech for the National Trust’s annual historic sites luncheon. Entitled “Making a Difference: Historic Sites and their Communities,” his speech was dedicated to his longtime friend and National Trust trustee, Dr. Clement Price, who had recently passed away.  Tom Mayes, deputy general counsel for the National Trust, introduced McDaniel. “Through his leadership, George McDaniel has made Drayton Hall matter more and more,” Mayes said. “He has revealed why Drayton Hall matters. Not just as an architectural monument, although that it certainly is, but as a place for the identification, acknowledgement, and recognition of the difficult histories that people share, as a place for people to connect over that shared history, and as a place where people can feel their deeper humanity.”

McDaniel’s speech addressed the basic question: Why are historic sites important? What difference do they make? In response, he explained how he came to work at historic sites and to understand them to be not just staid, pretty places to visit, but instead places where history and historic preservation could engage people’s interests in ways that a book or classroom alone cannot. Citing specific examples from the work of other National Trust sites including Cliveden, President Lincoln’s Cottage, and Montpelier, he showed how sites are actively making a difference at local and international levels, and are being used to build cross-racial bridges.

Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Drayton Hall, staff members have been providing exceptional tours and programs, continuing our groundbreaking research in oral history, and striving to conserve the Ashley River region through our philosophy of whole place preservation. All of this work shows that “buildings don’t preserve buildings, people do.” And for that to happen McDaniel declared, “individuals must step up.” He concluded his speech by showing a segment from Drayton Hall’s DVD tour, in which Charles Drayton and his daughter Anne reflect on the family’s decision to preserve Drayton Hall.

McDaniel urged leaders of historic sites to reach out and become engaged in their communities in order to make a positive difference. “George McDaniel spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the annual historic sites luncheon, and his remarks highlighted the work of Drayton Hall and sites across the National Trust’s portfolio to serve their communities and remain both relevant and impactful,” said Katherine Malone-France, vice president for historic sites for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “His remarks were touching, funny, insightful, and unifying—all the things that make him such a wonderful colleague and a leader across the field of preservation.”

Drayton Hall to Reach a National Audience at Past Forward

Drayton Hall will be represented in three programs at Past Forward, the National Preservation Conference held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Savannah, Ga, November 11-14. Executive Director George W. McDaniel is the keynote speaker for the annual Historic Sites Luncheon and will be presenting “Making a Difference: Historic Sites and Their Communities.” Drawing examples from Drayton Hall and other National Trust sites including Cliveden, Montpelier, and President Lincoln’s Cottage, McDaniel will discuss how historic sites across the country are working to make their communities a better place through education, economic development, and preservation.

McDaniel will also moderate “Preserving Our History, Telling Our Story,” a session with five descendants of Drayton Hall as participants: Catherine Braxton, Rebecca Campbell, Annie Brown Meyers, Charles Drayton, and Shelby Nelson. This session was selected since it can serve as a model for other historic sites and house museums, many of which have descendants, but who are not closely connected to them. “This is an opportunity for attendees of the conference to learn from the descendants and ask questions,” said McDaniel. As with most historic sites today, these descendants never lived here, but they have special memories and connections to this site, passed on from generation to generation, thanks in no small measure to its preservation. Toni Carrier, founding director of Lowcountry Africana and former Wood Family Fellow, will also be speaking at this session.

Trish Smith, Curator of Historic Architectural Resources, will present “Preservation is Smart,” a session that will explore the various ways preservation professionals use technology to save historic places. Smith will be speaking specifically about the innovative use of 3D visualization technology for the digital restoration of Drayton Hall, a practice that has already enhanced the interpretation of Drayton Hall and holds considerable promise for the future.

If You Go

Keynote Speech: “Making a Difference: Historic Sites and Their Communities”

Speaker: George W. McDaniel

Nov. 13 at noon

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Learning Laboratory: “Preserving our History, Telling our Story”

Speakers: George McDaniel, Toni Carrier, Catherine Braxton, Rebecca Campbell, Annie Brown Meyers, Charles Drayton, and Shelby Nelson.

Nov. 13 4:30-5:45

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Learning Laboratory: “Preservation is Smart”

Speakers: Trish Smith and Prashant Singh, CTO and Co-founder of Local Data

Nov. 14 10:30-11:45 

For more information on the National Preservation conference, click here. 

Connecting the Past to the 21st Century

Starting July 14th, new technologies are coming to Drayton Hall’s popular interactive program Connections: From Africa to America. Museum interpreters will use iPads to present the program and interact with guests as part of Drayton Hall’s continuing focus on combining technology and interpretation.

Museum interpreter Deana Boulware uses an iPad to present Connections to guests.

The program connects the contributions and experiences of Africans and African Americans to South Carolina, Charleston, and Drayton Hall. The iPads will allow museum interpreters to present new images of primary sources, artifacts, and people to tell the story of the enslaved people and their descendents who were connected to Drayton Hall. Images include pieces from Drayton Hall’s collection, such as colonoware fragments and extracts from Charles Drayton’s diaries.

“To present historical documents and images in the most up-to-date way possible is a great example of the commitment Drayton Hall has to reinventing itself, and to speaking​ to more generations of visitors as technological capabilities increase and diversify,” said Carin Boone, a museum interpreter at Drayton Hall. “We have a great opportunity to reach out to more people and remind them that the stewardship of stories like those of the Bowens family and countless others is a responsibility that rests with all of us, not just preservation professionals.”

Connections: From Africa to America is a 30-minute program presented twice daily: Monday-Saturday at 11 am and 2 pm, and Sunday at 12 pm and 2 pm. The program is included with regular admission. 

Celebrating our Interpreters: Giving Tours for 5+ Years

By Rikki Davenport, Curator of Education

Looking at Drayton Hall, it’s easy to recognize the house as our most valuable asset. Visit Drayton Hall, work at Drayton Hall, or volunteer at Drayton Hall and it’s just as easy to recognize that our interpreters are every bit as valuable as our house. It is our interpreters who provide a voice to the people who lived and worked on the landscape, who make the architecture and history accessible to all of our visitors, and who inspire people to embrace historic preservation. This month we have chosen to highlight our interpreters who have been part of Drayton Hall’s history for five or more years.

From left to right: Peggy Reider, Pattie Jack, Amanda Franklin, and Betsy McAmis.

Peggy Reider, circa 2001, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Bates College and a Master of Public Administration from Penn State University. As Drayton Hall’s lead interpreter, Peggy works to prepare new interpreters to present house tours and the Connections program. After thirteen years of being immersed in Drayton Hall knowledge, Peggy is the go-to person when staff members have a question about anything from family history to the location of a file on colonial brick making. While Peggy has presented every public program offered, she does have her favorite. “What I love most is the interaction in the Connections program,” Peggy said.

Phoebe Willis, circa 2002, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree. Phoebe started at Drayton Hall as a volunteer, followed by time in the shop until her retirement. Unable to stay away from Drayton Hall, Phoebe returned in 2007 as a walking tour guide then added on the roles of interpreter and volunteer archaeological assistant. Phoebe says, “The thing I like best about working at Drayton Hall is the amazing combined talents of the staff from whom I have learned so much. Drayton Hall, the place, is such a treasure trove of “stuff” waiting to be discovered or disclosed.”

Pattie Jack, circa 2004, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early American Studies and a Master of Arts in Teaching History. For the past decade, Pattie has been busy leading tours, organizing student programs, working in the museum shop, and welcoming visitors at the front gate. “My favorite thing about Drayton Hall is driving on the property every morning,” Pattie said. “When the house comes into view, it never fails to give me and overwhelming sense of place and peace.”

Diane Miller, circa 2005, finished her Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation and Community Planning. A lover of history and material culture, Diane was excited to begin her role as an interpreter at Drayton Hall only a few months after graduation from the College of Charleston. Diane now splits her time between Drayton Hall and as a staff member at her alma mater. Diane enjoys the company of everyone and said, “What I love most is working with a group of people who find the history of Drayton Hall as fascinating as I do and who, like me, absolutely love to share what we know with our visitors.”

Amanda Franklin, circa 2005, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Historic Preservation from the College of Charleston. Born and raised in Charleston, Amanda has been connected to Drayton Hall since her first visit at seven years old. After learning how the Drayton family kept a growth chart of their children and dogs, Amanda began a growth chart of her family pets. She now enjoys measuring her own children and seeing the tradition continue as Draytons bring new generations to be added to the growth chart at Drayton Hall. “This place has been part of my life since I was a child. I grew up just down the street and always knew that I would be a part of this history.”

Betsy McAmis, circa 2007, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Charleston Southern University (then Baptist College at Charleston), and a Master of Arts in Teaching from The Citadel. Betsy taught history and Spanish at Summerville High School for thirty-three years before joining the staff of Drayton Hall. While she enjoyed the classroom, she doesn’t hesitate to tell people that her favorite job has been as a Drayton Hall interpreter. Ever the teacher, Betsy said the following: “My favorite thing about working at Drayton Hall is sharing in discussions about our nation’s history with every age group from grade school students to senior citizens. Visitors and staff alike are eager to talk about history all day long! What could be more delightful for a retired history teacher than to see such enthusiasm for life-long learning?”

Leslie Newman, circa 2007, holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Wofford College, a Master of Education in Secondary Education from Converse College, and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. Leslie began her tenure at Drayton Hall as an interpreter and two years ago added on the role of Membership and Development Coordinator. While Leslie spends most of her time working with the Friends of Drayton Hall, she still manages to occasionally lead a group house tour and stay involved with the interpretive staff. “What I love most about working at Drayton Hall is the camaraderie among all of us who love history and who appreciate and support the mission of preserving this special site for future generations,” Leslie said. “Also, I feel so fortunate to be able to come to work here each day–how many people have their office in a place of such natural beauty and historic importance?”

Sarah Stroud Clarke, circa 2008, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from San Diego State University, and is pursuing a PhD in anthropology from Syracuse University. Sarah began her career at Drayton Hall as an intern, then joined the interpretive staff, and now serves as Archeologist and Curator of Collections. When she isn’t digging in the dirt or mending artifacts, Sarah enjoys leading house tours and speaking to students on field trips. “I love the challenge of my job,” Sarah said. “It is a privilege to take care of our museum collection and to study the amazing archaeological collection; my work is never boring!”

Visit Drayton Hall and you will experience a tour led by the best educated and most devoted staff of any historic site in the area. As the Curator of Education at Drayton Hall for the past seven years, it has been my pleasure and honor to work with a staff of interpreters who truly believe in the mission of Dayton Hall and add to the history of the site every day.

Rikki Davenport, circa 2007, holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Arts in Education, Curriculum and Instruction from California State University, Sacramento, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from The Citadel.