The Historic Charleston Foundation sought to capture the Civil Rights history of Johns Island, SC, ensuring students could take pride in their local heritage. This history was scattered across books, family accounts, and isolated oral histories, requiring cohesion to engage younger generations. Building trust within the tight-knit community posed a significant challenge, especially with the involvement of outsiders.
Recognizing past failures to effectively tell this story, we took a community-led approach. The narratives were complex, sacred, and often painful, demanding a process driven by those most connected to the history. We let the community lead every aspect of the project while we supported and documented their stories.
By establishing a collaborative partnership in scope, production, and editing we allowed the community to guide us in documenting their own narratives. Patience and sensitivity were key, as trust-building took time. This multi-year effort involved listening, learning, and working with educators, elders, and local leaders to document their experiences respectfully and authentically.
Extraordinary. The resulting films are nuanced and empowering, deeply resonating with students and historians alike. A complementary curriculum integrates the films into classrooms, inspiring students to lead civic projects and spark dialogue. As a result, the students have continued to want to know more about Johns Island history. The success led to a new film on Esau and Janie Jenkins, the Civil Rights matriarch and patriarch of John’s Island. Most importantly, the project has fostered intergenerational connections in a community whose stories have long been overlooked. Read more in the Post & Courie
Katherine and Elizabeth bring unique qualities to their work. Respect, sensitivity and high intellect are hallmarks of their approach. While listening carefully to clients, their thorough research and probing questions lead to profound understanding. The result is a visual production and narrative that reflects deep and intuitive wisdom. They are exceptional, they are extraordinary, they are excellent.
