Furman University

Courtney DeVoe

Drayton Hall - A National Historic Trust for Historic Preservation Site

Charleston, SC

My internship at the 630-acre Drayton Hall site offered me an extremely valuable experience working and learning at one of the finest and most undisturbed historic sites in America.  Drayton Hall is a leader in the preservation movement, significant for Georgian-Palladian architecture and undisturbed landscape.

My main responsibilities and objectives were diverse. I executed a complete photographic documentation of the entire Drayton Hall museum special collections including the fine arts, low country belongings of slaves and prehistoric Native American artifacts. This included complete independent artist control of all on site and off site photography of collections and is planning to be released as a digital and print catalog.  I was directly involved in preserving archaeology artifacts (Revolutionary Preservation System [RPS]), and worked with the digital archival system (PastPerfect) to re-house all the documents related to Drayton Hall. Overall, I successfully attained all of my goals and objectives by the completion of my internship. Throughout the internship, I concentrated in all three areas to ensure completion. Some of the issues that I encountered include: proper lighting and space for photographing certain objects such as glass and furniture, having eleven percent of the RP system fail, and dealing with the scanner to produce quality scans of the documents.

My Art History major contributed to and enhanced many areas of this internship experience. In regards to Palladian architecture, my knowledge in Ancient Greek architecture facilitated my understanding of the influences that were being brought into the Drayton house. Most notable of these examples were the Greek columns and portico. My classroom exposure to ancient ceramics provided a solid foundation when working with the archaeology artifacts; however, through hands-on experience I learned valuable specifics about the individual types of ceramics by working with the objects and artifacts that are being uncovered on the Drayton Hall grounds. Black delft ceramics, which are extremely rare, were most recently discovered on Drayton Hall's property. My study of Minoan art in an Art History introductory class aided in my connection between the black delft and black painted Minoan Art. This unique finding has sparked my curiosity in the potential link between the two eras (Minoan Art and Drayton Hall) and cultures. In semesters to come, I would benefit from anthropology and archaeology classes to gain further insight into these fields.  Further internship opportunities discovered are the Drayton Hall-Versailles, France exchange program and graduate studies and a postgraduate Woods Family fellowship. My enriching experience at Drayton Hall did solidify my college educational plans and has enlightened me to a larger scope of graduate programs and career options in the field of Historic Preservation. These options include archaeology, collections management, historic preservation, historical interior design and photography. My desire is to now better select my path by combining not only my greatest area of interest but also what suits best for my natural talents.

The internship at Drayton Hall has provided me with amazing opportunities and experiences. I will never forget the dedication and expertise thriving on the Drayton Hall property; I will never forget the passion for history and preservation that was felt on the property; I will never forget the warm embracing of each team member; I will never forget the new and exciting challenges presented to me everyday. It was not just a hands-on experience, but the people who really made the experience come to life. Intuitively, I know my Drayton Hall experience will continue providing me with knowledge and great opportunities. Drayton Hall is a place of unexpectedness. One major theme that I learned from this summer is to never expect what will come my way from day to day. I believe that Drayton Hall has sent me on a path of wonderful and amazing opportunities to come in my life. Drayton Hall has been forever impressed on my heart. I believe I was meant to be at Drayton Hall this summer, and I will carry these experiences with me to every new and wonderful opportunity.

Below are some pictures that show some of the projects that I was working on and some examples of the photography work that I completed for the Museum Collection catalog.


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