Drayton Hall. Southern Edge. Carter C. Hudgins.

gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com

3 years ago

.History abounds around us if we but look, right? In South Carolina we have the SC National Heritage Corridor along whose route there is no finer site than Drayton Hall.

Why is it so important? Where is it headed?

In the fall 2021 issue of Southern Edge magazine, my successor, Carter C. Hudgins, Drayton Hall’s President and CEO, gives answers. Read them on pages 79-85.

A range of decisions have crossed Carter’s desk: the new Sally Reahard Visitor Center, the Lenhardt Garden, the Caretakers’ House (the Jill and Richard Almeida Gallery), preservation of the main house, business and collections management, and stewardship of the landscape and its archaeological resources.

As you know, success does not just happen, so you may well find his interview and this issue of Southern Edge both engaging and useful.

Carter’s interview is from my book, “Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People,” due to be published in the spring of 2022 by Evening Post Books.

Excerpted from my new book

Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People

to be published in the spring of 2022

by Evening Post Books.

Click to learn more about it.

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.