While most accounts of the United States’ maritime excursions are disproportionately populated by white seafarers, the Jefferson County Historical Society’s upcoming exhibition expands that narrative to include the many Black commercial mariners, whalers, fishers, explorers, soldiers and sailors who traveled along the Pacific Coast, and traversed the high seas, from the 16th through the mid-20th centuries.

“Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific” tells the stories of these mariners, their impact in shaping the American Pacific, and their legacy, through a virtual question-and-answer session with exhibit curator Dr. Caroline Collins, who credits her interest in Black people’s relationships with the water and watercraft to her childhood visits to Southern California beaches.

Collins is affiliated with the Democracy Lab, the Design Lab, the Indigenous Futures Institute and the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology. She is a co-founder of Black Like Water, an interdisciplinary research collective at the University of California San Diego, that highlights Black relationships to the natural world.

“Take Me to the Water” moves beyond the trans-Atlantic slave trade, to discuss the centuries of roles Black people played in the development of the Pacific region’s economy and society, as Collins addresses the early freedoms some Africans experienced through their explorations and service on the high seas.

Alexandra Toombs, director of development and communications for the Jefferson County Historical Society, promised that Collins would also introduce her online audiences to the roots of seafaring and surfing that can be traced back to Africa’s Western Coast.

Collins further plans to dive into equally overlooked areas of history, from the contributions of Black labor in shipbuilding, longshoring and other coastal industries, to Black people’s advancements in maritime scientific research, as well as the exchange of experiences and ideas, and the creation of new communities, for people of African descent along the Pacific.

Pre-registration at jchsmuseum.org is required to take part in this Zoom meeting from 4-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, with a suggested donation of $12.

This project is made possible with support from California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as a major grant from the National Endowment for the “Democracy Demands Wisdom.” The exhibition will travel through Exhibit Envoy to museums and cultural centers nationwide.