What Have You Been Doing?

by | Jan 22, 2021 | African American History, Author, Blog, Books, Community Engagement, Drayton Hall Stories, Education, Outreach, Publication

Drayton Hall by Charlotte Caldwell

 

First on Facebook – January 22, 2021

Click on the blue Facebook logo in the upper right corner above to read all the comments and enlarge the photos, or read the transcript below.

 

This Facebook Post from January 22, 2021, captures three centuries of American history in the photo of Catherine Braxton and Charlie Drayton as they greet one another at the Drayton Hall descendants’ program. According to Catherine’s family’s oral history, her enslaved ancestors came over from Barbados with the Draytons in the 1670s. Catherine is named after her great grandmother, Catherine Bowens, who was freed at Drayton Hall in 1865. Behind them, l-r, are Shelby Nelson, Charlie’s grandson; Rebecca Cambell, Catherine’s sister; Charles Drayton, Charlie’s grandson; and Frank Drayton, Charlie’s nephew. 

 

Following is an updated transcript of the original post as the book’s working title and other important aspects of the project have since changed during  production:  

 

What Have You Been Doing?

That’s a serious question during these COVID times.

As for me, I go on adventures. I post on Facebook. But what do I do most of the time? Writing, editing, and producing a book entitled “Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People.” It features my series of recorded oral history interviews with Drayton Hall descendants and others from 2015 through the spring of 2021.
 
Why do that? 
 
• Because it’s the first of its kind in the nation: there is no other book about a museum or historic site like it.
 
• It has a critically important goal: to enhance bi-racial understanding and be a positive force in today’s world.
 
• It presents a range of perspectives unlike other books about museums that have been written solely by historians or curators.
 
• It contains over fifty oral history interviews that I did with Drayton family members, African American descendants, staff, board members, donors, preservationists, professional historians, architects, engineers, paint conservators, and more.
 
• It will be published by Charleston’s Evening Post Books in the fall of 2021.
 
• Tax-deductible donations may be made to the SC Archives and History to support the project
 
• A portion of the net proceeds will go to Drayton Hall. 
 
 
 
 

 

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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