Media Alert
Aug. 30, 2022
Contact:
Marie Cheek
Community Relations Coordinator
Culture & Heritage Museums
803.909.7312 mcheek@chmuseums.org
CORRECTION: Note time change from Aug. 16 press release – Dr. Lisa Bratton’s presentation now at noon; Historical Marker Dedication at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. Below is a fuller description of the presentation.
During Historic Brattonville’s annual event “By the Sweat of Our Brows”, a presentation by Dr. Lisa Bratton focuses on recent findings of shared DNA among the descendants of the Bratton plantation owners and the enslaved community.
Since 2005, the descendants of the plantation’s enslaved community have helped organize the annual event “By the Sweat of Our Brows” at Historic Brattonsville. This will be the first year that white descendants, as well as new representatives of families of Black descendants, will participate together.
WHAT: A presentation by Dr. Lisa Bratton will focus on the relevance of recent findings of shared DNA between the descendants of the Bratton plantation’s enslaved people and descendants of the owners of the plantation. Dr. Bratton, whose lifetime research has been dedicated to the genealogy of the Bratton family, will introduce black and white family representatives during her presentation and discuss their ongoing conversations.
WHY: With recent test results that support their shared DNA, black and white descendants of those who once lived on the Bratton plantation, gather to meet for the first time. At least eight different families from over five different states across America, come together to discuss their mutual history and lineage.
WHO: Dr. Lisa Bratton is a tenured Associate Professor at Tuskegee University. She was raised in Vallejo, California and is a fifth-generation African American descendant of Green and Malinda Bratton, who were enslaved on the Bratton plantation. Her upcoming book “I am the Forever” chronicles her ancestors’ lives from enslavement to being among the first Freedmen to own land in York County, South Carolina.
WHEN: Sept. 10 – “By the Sweat of Our Brows” from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with Dr. Bratton’s presentation at noon.
Please note changes in time. Historical Marker Dedication is now at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Historic Brattonsville, 1444 Brattonsville Road, McConnells, S.C. 29726
Look for detours; Brattonsville Road will be closed for public safety.
Visitors Services phone – 803.684.2327
AWARD WINNING PROJECT: “By the Sweat of Our Brows” is recognized by the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission as a project that significantly and dramatically influences in a permanent way the preservation and interpretation of African American history and culture in SC. The South Carolina African American Heritage Commission’s Project Award was presented to York County’s Culture and Heritage Museums on behalf of “By the Sweat of Our Brows” at the South Carolina Archives & History Center in Columbia on March 28, 2014.
Historic Brattonsville is included in “The Green Book of South Carolina – A Travel Guide to S.C. African American Cultural Sites.” The travel guide lists tourism sites and attractions, which are on the National Register or have a State Historic Marker, from 46 counties in South Carolina.
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