There is more to South Carolina and Georgia than palm trees and beach resorts
When
I first heard about this May term at the beach trip I assumed that a majority
of our time would be spent on the beach.
Well I was wrong, because most of my time was spent in the baking sun
while fighting mosquitos as we walked trough time. During my southern emersion experience I
asked myself why did the descendants of former slave plantation not sell their
family’s land to real estate developers.
It was because they wanted to see their family’s estate be preserved so
that their family history and legacy could be preserved instead of becoming a
real estate development.
Hofwyl
Broadfield was the first plantation that I visited on the May term trip where I
first learned about historical preservation of former plantation estates. Ophelia Dent was the last descendant living
at Hofwyl Broadfield left the plantation to the local historical society to
preserve her family’s legacy and the history of Hofwyl Broadfield. When I first approached the Hofwyl Broadfield
plantation house I thought it would be bigger and more elegant like the
southern plantations in movies. It turns
out that many plantations were not as elegant and grand as Monticello they were
more similar in size to the Hofwyl Broadfield plantation house. As I walked through the Hofwyl Broadfield
plantation house I encountered a house that had been frozen in time with
furniture dating back to the 19th century, Civil War battle relics
stored in a bedroom closet for over 100 years, and electricity that was not
installed until the mid 20th century. Ophelia Dent could have left Hofwyl
Broadfield to distant relatives or a close friend who would have sold it to
someone who did not want to preserve the plantation, but she did not do
that. Her family history and legacy was
so important to her that she donated the property so that it could be preserved
so that people can learn about the history of Hofwyl Broadfield and the
importance of family history.
Cumberland Island is an island of hidden
beauty that could have been the next Hilton Head or Kiawah Island. Cumberland Island’s remoteness and vast
jungle vegetation reminded me of the Amazon Jungles of Peru. As I approached Cumberland Island I felt like
I was an explorer from Europe coming to an uncharted new world. While I was on the National Park Service’s
van tour where I saw the majestic Plum Orchard, which was a winter home once
owned by the Carnegie family until the mid 20th century. The Carnegies who still had ownership of
Cumberland Island wanted to preserve its beauty, and eventually the rest of the
Carnegies sold their property on the island to the federal government. The Carnegies were known for their
monopolization of the steal industry during the 19th century;
however, many of Andrew Carnegie’s descendants who had property on Cumberland
Island had to sell their property since they could not afford to keep
them. Cumberland Island is one of the
most unique places in the United States due to its remoteness, isolation, and
ecosystem that cannot be found anywhere in the United States. The decision to preserve the island as a
national sea shore was a brilliant decision because not only will you be able
to look down either end of the shore for miles, but you will be also able to
watch turtles crawl up the shore to lay their eggs.
In
today’s society people are not valuing history and preservation as much as they
used to because people are more concerned with how much money they can make if
they buy the land for real estate development.
I was really opened to the importance of historical preservation when I
visited PeopleMatter in Charleston, SC.
Charleston, SC has one of the strictest historical preservation codes in
the United States, along with Savannah, GA.
When Nate DaPore, President and CEO of People Matter, gave us a tour of
PeopleMatter’s office I saw the previous ruins that stood on the property he
recently purchased. Because of
Charleston’s strict historical codes he could not knock down the bricks that
were still standing, so he incorporated the bricks with his new office
building. I was suppressed to see bricks
in an office building; however, it was necessary to help preserve the history
of the thriving city of Charleston. This
May term was not only a immersion in the Gullah culture, but it was also about
how important historical preservation is so that future generations will be
able to visit the same Hofwyl Broadfield, downtown Charleston, and Cumberland
Island that I once visited.
Thank you Bev and Claire for
everything! I hope that we can get
together sometime in the fall to catch up!
--
Max
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