Water Stories: A River Harvest

Water Stories: A River Harvest. In collaboration with Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and St. Johns Riverkeeper (SJR), "Water Stories: A River Harvest" is an oral history study and a theatrical production and digital program on the environmental and communal history of Jacksonville, Florida’s Ribault River/Moncrief Creek corridor. The river connects multiple African American neighborhoods of historical significance undergoing revitalization and environmental remediation. The project’s goal is to document, preserve, and augment community assets—economic, residential, environmental, communal—in this area of local historical significance: it contains the largest concentration of African American cemeteries in the state and is home to a large concentration of Black military veteran gravesites; it is the home of early 20th century African American philanthropist Eartha MM White and her farm that still supplies food to the Clara White Mission. It has also been the site of environmental degradation—having been the location of two superfund sites and having the largest concentration of septic systems in Duval County, further polluting the river.