Featuring Connections: From Africa to America Unscripted and Interactive

To celebrate Black History Month, Drayton Hall will be featuring its popular Connections: From Africa to America interactive presentation. Available three times daily, the program traces the journey of enslaved Africans to the new world and through slavery and emancipation. In addition, house tours throughout the month of February will include an emphasis on the plantation’s African-American history, including focused tours on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Visitors will also discover A Sacred Place, one of the oldest documented African-American cemeteries in the nation still in use. Those interested in learning more can take advantage of a 15 percent discount on all books on African-American history and culture at the Museum Shop; members will save 25 percent. All daily programs and activities are included with regular admission. Visitors should contact Natalie Baker at (843) 769-2638 for more information or they can check the website at www.draytonhall.org.

Connections: From Africa to America

Presented three times daily at 10:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 2:45 p.m., this 45-minute program uses maps, historic documents, and artifacts to trace the story of enslaved Africans through emancipation, and into the 20th century. Participants can expect to read through slave lists and plantation records describing a day’s work in the rice fields and to hear about the skills of enslaved people that helped make the plantation prosper.

Drayton Hall House Tours

Every Drayton Hall House Tour is unique because each one is unscripted: Drayton Hall’s professional interpreters not only design their own program after extensive research and training, they continue to enrich their presentations through the results of Drayton Hall’s ongoing research into African-American history and culture. In honor of Black History Month, all house tours will highlight the roles and responsibilities of African Americans and the contributions they have made to Drayton Hall throughout its long history.

The Voices of Drayton Hall Interactive Tour on DVD

A companion piece to Drayton Hall’s professionally guided house tour, this self-directed, interactive tour on DVD lets visitors dig deeper into a favorite topic or skip ahead at any point during the tour. Generations of Drayton Hall descendants, both white and black, offer their perspectives on life at Drayton Hall and the impact of change on its inhabitants. Visitors will also discover never-before-seen images and documents from Drayton Hall’s archives. Free DVD rental with admission; produced by The History Channel and winner of a Historic Preservation Tourism Award.

A Sacred Place: The African-American Cemetery

Dating back to the 18th century, this is one of the oldest documented African-American cemeteries in the nation still in use. The final resting place of at least 40 individuals, enslaved and free, recent research shows that the burial grounds extend beyond the boundaries of the present day site and that there are likely hundreds more buried here. On October 9, 2010, the African-American Memorial, inspired by famed Charleston blacksmith Philip Simmons and crafted by his protégés, was dedicated at the entrance to the cemetery, an enduring tribute to the people of African descent who have contributed to Drayton Hall from its earliest inception.

The Drayton Hall Museum Shop

Housed in a wood frame structure built in the late 1800s and representative of the types of houses in which many African-American families lived after the Civil War, the Museum Shop is one of the site’s two surviving historic outbuildings. Originally a two-room structure, the house was enlarged with a shed-roof addition at the rear. The partition that divided the original two rooms has long since been removed, but remnants of the central brick fireplace are seen in the floor of the main room. Visitors can learn more about their discoveries and save 15 percent throughout the month of February. There is no sales tax and all proceeds benefit Drayton Hall’s preservation efforts.

For more information, visit the Drayton Hall web site at www.draytonhall.org.

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