Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary
How do you bring history forward and connect?
That’s a hard question, but one that Silver Bluff Audubon Center & Sanctuary is answering by hiring two skilled videographers, Elizabeth Brown and Katherine Kelly, to produce a video to engage visitors, students, and teachers.
To help with its planning, I recently spent an interesting day at Silver Bluff with them, educators, staff, and volunteers and later introduced them to the nearby state historic park Redcliffe and its professional staff, the remarkable Elizabeth Laney and new director Michael Scott.
We visited two nearby churches with histories directly connected to Silver Bluff, St. Catherine’s CME Church and Silver Bluff Missionary Baptist. St. Catherine’s has roots in the antebellum enslaved community at Silver Bluff, while Silver Bluff Missionary Baptist has roots extending into the 18th century, as explained on the historical markers seen in the photographs. Both have multi-layered stories to tell.
How do you bring history forward? By connecting it with people past and present, and Silver Bluff is seeking to do just that.
“Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary is a 3,400-acre woodland overlooking the Savannah River. Here you’ll find extensive pine forests and bottomland hardwood forests; 22 miles of horse and walking trails; 50 acres of lakes and ponds; 100 acres of grassland; and all manner of birds and wildlife. And that’s just above ground — underfoot are archaeological sites from nearly every period in American history.” – South Carolina Audubon
George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., is President of McDaniel Consulting, LLC, a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and to its broader constituents. The company’s tag line, “Building Bridges through History,” is grounded in McDaniel’s personal beliefs and his experience in site management, preservation, education, board development, fundraising, and community outreach. Rather than using history to divide us, he strives to help organizations use history, especially local history, to enhance cross-cultural understanding and to support local museums, preservation, and education. Dr. McDaniel recently led volunteer efforts with Emanuel AME Church and historical organizations in Charleston to use historic preservation to enhance racial reconciliation and healing. McDaniel is also the Executive Director Emeritus of Drayton Hall, a historic site in Charleston, SC, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
A frequent writer, speaker, and facilitator about such issues, he can be reached at gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com or through his website at www.mcdanielconsulting.net.
Header Image: Silver Bluff by the Savannah River
Images courtesy of George W. McDaniel unless otherwise noted.
McDaniel Consulting LLC is a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and its broader constituents.