First on Facebook – May 1, 2021
“My grandfather James Hopkins was a tall gentleman. Everyone looked up to him because he was firm and, and once he spoke, everyone listened. He was quiet but would get your attention.My grandmother Hattie was real short and loved to work in the garden and to cook. We’d always go to her house, looking for that good meal that grandmothers would cook for you. She was a good-hearted person, who loved the Lord.
While they were at Drayton Hall, she would have grown collards, string beans, mustard greens, white potatoes, cabbage, and all that. In her greens and cabbage, she would add that smoked butt’s meat, the fat part of the hog, which would bring out the flavor. They used to have a lot of chickens, so she’d fry or stew chicken and fix chicken dumplings. She baked biscuits that were out of sight.My grandfather used to declare,“Hattie, these biscuits got good sense!”
Preview my new book “Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People”
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 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. He retired from Drayton Hall in 2015 after 25 years of distinguished service.
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.
All images courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.
McDaniel Consulting LLC is a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and its broader constituents. 