Charles Duell grew up primarily in the New York area, spending time on his uncle’s ranch
in Colorado and summers visiting his maternal grandparents, J.J. Pringle and Henningham
Smith, in Charleston. As the 8 th generation of Charleston’s historically renown Middleton
family, the Smiths maintained residences at both the Edmondston-Alston House, c. 1828,
on East Battery and Middleton Place, where they restored the 18 th century rice plantation’s
extensive gardens following six decades of neglect, fire, hurricanes and an earthquake
following the Civil War.
After graduating from Yale University, Duell began his career in finance on Wall Street
before unexpectantly inheriting the 7,000-acre Middleton Place in 1969 when he was 31
years old. He and his young family moved to Charleston, where Middleton Place had been
languishing for years. Middleton Place is the birthplace of a Declaration of Independence
signer, a First Continental Congress President, and a South Carolina Governor.
It was also home to hundreds of enslaved men, women and children. The interpretation of
their lives makes Middleton Place a nexus for reconciliation as Americans pursue a fuller
understanding of their past. Thus Duell’s challenge was to figure out how to preserve this
important landmark, making it sustainable and accessible for future generations.
By convincing relatives, friends and associates to help him revive the houses, gardens and
forestlands of his forebears, Duell established the Middleton Place Foundation, for which he
served as President and CEO for nearly 50 years before stepping down in 2018. Their
collective efforts over the past half-century have resulted in a dynamic balance of historic
preservation and innovative interpretation. foundational sites.”