we think some periods of time they were 40 to 100 slaves in this area of drayton hall. but to run this house itself, the drayton's head cooks, butler's, stable hands, blacksmiths. they had carpenters. we have gone through the slave lists and identify the names of these individuals. we have tried to highlight those places that are distinctively african american, like the african-american cemetery that dates to the 1790's. we have done careful research to show the area to have been a cemetery. making it the oldest documented african-american cemetery in the nation still in use. descendents of the african-american can any from drayton hall can be interred there. the last person to be interred there was richmond bowens, born in 1980. he died in 1998. he was a remarkable source of oral history for us and that a lot of work in educating people on the cane to drayton hall about this site as he remembered it growing up. parents and the african-american community here used the natural resources around for medicinal purposes. access to medical care was very limited for african-ame

we think some periods of time they were 40 to 100 slaves in this area of drayton hall. but to run this house itself, the drayton's head cooks, butler's, stable hands, blacksmiths. they had carpenters. we have gone through the slave lists and identify the names of these individuals. we have tried to highlight those places that are distinctively african american, like the african-american cemetery that dates to the 1790's. we have done careful research to show the area to have been a cemetery. making it the oldest documented african-american cemetery in the nation still in use. descendents of the african-american can any from drayton hall can be interred there. the last person to be interred there was richmond bowens, born in 1980. he died in 1998. he was a remarkable source of oral history for us and that a lot of work in educating people on the cane to drayton hall about this site as he remembered it growing up. parents and the african-american community here used the natural resources around for medicinal purposes. access to medical care was very limited for african-ame

, it is saideriod the philosophy of the national trust for historic preservation would acquire drayton hall was to preserve or stabilize the site rather than to take it to one particular moment in time. as a result we see a timeline of history rather than a time capsule. we don't see this as a working plantation as it had been in the 18th and 19th centuries. we don't see slave quarters of the blacksmith shop. they were part and parcel of plantation life. the floor plan of the house is laid out in a fashion that was thended to demonstrate wealth and status and sophistication of its owners, john drayton. as you go through the house and you look at specific features in the great hall the mantle and from thele are derived book. as you go to the house you will see these overlays of culture. you will see what work that is original. to 1742. usc original ceilings -- you will see original ceilings that are hand sculpted. paintings of the 1880's. some of the rooms have only the third or fourth coat of paint on the walls. you'll see the second floor great hall, a room that illustrates the rise and fa