A Life Well Lived

by | Feb 24, 2022 | Author, Blog, Books, Drayton Hall Stories, Publication

Last week Elizabeth “Liz” Hunt Alston, a friend, tripped on a sidewalk in Charleston, hit her head, went to the hospital, was fine for a few days, and suddenly died of a brain hemorrhage. Here’s my letter-to-the-editor in the Post and Courier, Feb. 24.

 

“Life is all too short. We all know that, but it hits particularly hard when you lose a friend, as we all have with Liz Alston’s death. Liz loved her husband Albert and devoted her life to laboring and leading in the vineyard of education, civil rights, and history. Courageous, she spoke her mind but did so in a way that you knew she was seeking to be constructive.

 

When asked to serve on our board at Drayton Hall, a historic, slavery-based plantation, she agreed. Why? “Plantations teach us” was her response, and her words became the title of her interview in my forthcoming book about the site.

 

A spiritual person, she served as a trustee of Mother Emanuel A.M.E. and valued history so much that she led its memorabilia committee, saving documents and artifacts that gave physical testimony both to the tragedy and to the worldwide response of sympathy, and asked me to help as vice-chairman.

 

As Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of The Smithsonian Institution, who knew and admired her, said, “Liz Alston lived a life of service to her community and to her city. She understood the importance of remembering all the dark corners of our history. We have all been made better by Liz’s life. “

 

Taken aback by its suddenness, we do mourn our loss of Liz, but let us also step forward and apply her example of public service to ourselves and our communities.

 

We will be the better for it, and Liz would be pleased.”

 

Albert and Liz Alston, married for 53 years.

 

Liz and me with a cross with notes attached to it, left in front of Mother Emanuel AME Church as memorial to those slain there in 2015. Cross was in storage and wrapped in cellophane so all the notes would remain attached. Liz was chairman of the church’s memorabilia committee and asked me to serve as vice-chairman.

 

Liz, me, and Lonnie Bunch, then Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and now Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, standing in front of artifacts left in front of Mother Emanuel that we saved and then placed on exhibit a year later.

 

Liz and a meeting of the memorabilia committee. At the head of the table is city councilman Dudley Gregory.

 

Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People
to be published in the spring of 2022
by Evening Post Books.

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.

"Drayton Hall Stories" is now a 4X Award Winner with the SE Museum Conference's James R. Short Award, the Governor's Award in the Humanities, the SC Preservation Honor Award & the Alexander S. Salley Lifetime Achievement Award.

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