For over 250 years, Drayton Hall—a National Trust Historic Site in Charleston, South Carolina—has witnessed the full history of the American South. Today, the site is stewarded by the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust which stands as the "intermediaries between artifact and student, estate and visitor, past and present."

John Drayton originally purchased the tract of land in 1738 where he would later construct Drayton Hall, with wealth that was "facilitated by the institution of slavery." While the exact number of individuals enslaved by Hall is unknown, he owned more than 100 commercial plantations and the site estimates that the number of enslaved individuals by Drayton is likely in the thousands.

Located along the Ashley River, visitors to Drayton Hall experience an estate that is, as executive director Carter C. Hudgins, Ph.D described "accurate, authentic, and truthful." In addition to the Hall itself which has never been restored (and thus providing a unique opportunity to study materials and architecture from the mid 1700s) the site is an active archaeological site with landscapes and collections that provide further information on the life of the enslaved people and the pre-colonial Indigenous history of the region. For visitors who can't travel to the site in person they can catch a glimpse of this research and work with regular webinars with the collections staff.

We interviewed Hudgins to learn more about Drayton Hall and what makes it so special.

What first inspired your love of history?

My love of history is pretty organic as my father is a historian, an archeologist, and a preservationist, and my mother, a teacher, and a librarian. So growing up I got drug to every historic site you can think of. Not always to my liking.

What's your earliest memory of experiencing a historic site?

I obviously don't remember that visit, but I know that my earliest visit to Drayton Hall was when I was a few weeks but we came back again when I was four, and I at least have pictures of that experience. As for my earliest memory of a historic site: two memories are racing around the ramparts of castles in Germany, and then I'd say conducting archeology with my father at Stratford Hall in Virginia.

When people visit Drayton Hall, what do you want them to see, do feel while they're there?

We want everybody to learn about the history of the site, and that's not dissimilar to many historic house museums across the country. But I think where we are different is that I want people to come away from Drayton Hall with a greater appreciation and understanding of historic preservation—we want them to see what we are doing to actively protect and steward the site. We equally want to expose guests to the active archeological and research investigations taking place so that they come away with a more complete understanding of the hands-on preservation work that we do.

What is your favorite part of the site?

Drayton Hall's Portico, it's the first of its kind in the world, whereas it's recessed into the building and it projects out from the building as well. I think that progression away from the main block of the house, consciously or subconsciously, it's an effort to maintain a connection between the interior spaces of the house with the natural world that surrounds them. It’s one of my favorite places because while it's an architectural aspect of the site, it's really a connection point between the built and the natural environment, and that's one part of the experience at Drayton Hall that's invaluable, is experiencing the nature of the low country.

Equally exciting is the Sally Reahard Visitor Center (which opened in 2018), and that's been a huge benefit and asset over the last 6 years, particularly given the pandemic. One of the more outstanding features of the visitor center is that it allows us finally to exhibit our internationally significant collections including fine and decorative arts, archaeological artifacts, and archival treasures.

Visitors to Drayton Hall are well aware that the house is really exhibited as a raw artifact of social history. But people are still interested to see the material culture that was associated with the house and its historic residents- free and enslaved. Now, for the first time, aspects of our collections are on display publicly in the Stephen and Laura Gates Gallery.

What project at the site is energizing you today?

As an archaeologist myself, I am extremely excited that, through the pandemic, we were able to create a full-time sustainable archeology department. It's the only one of its kind in the southeast as there is nothing like it south of Virginia. Through that effort, we are finally able to carry out research-based excavations rather than excavations that are restricted to preservation projects.

Now we are able to develop a more complete understanding of the residents of Drayton Hall, not only the Drayton family, but of course the enslaved people as well. I'd say equally significant is the fact that there was a significant Native American occupation on that site prior to European colonization. It is through the archeological investigations and peeling back the layers of time physically, that we are able to increase our understanding of all of Drayton Hall’s historic (and prehistoric) residents.