Historical Lineage of Black Preservation

Project of Merit Winner! Digital Projects Showcase Exhibitor Award The topic of this research will showcase Black preservation and perseverance through researching historical buildings that have been utilized for both the benefit and betterment of the Black community over time. Focusing in particular on the Ducote Federal Credit Union, located in Historic Durkeeville, which was the only credit union that serviced African American residents in Jacksonville in the 1960s. Tracking the building’s usage as it became the new home for the nonprofit organization, Families of Slain Children, an organization for families that have lost loved ones due to senseless violence. This research will focus on localizing the African diaspora to Jacksonville, Florida and will emphasize the agency and perseverance of Black people and the means of bettering their lives for themselves, by themselves. Through the use of participatory observation, interviews and archival exploration, this project will be able to exemplify the ways Black individuals adapted to attain personal success when social advances were not afforded to them. In addition, this research aims to contribute to the discipline of residential genealogy and historic preservation of the built environment, to emphasis the importance of recognizing the prior use and history of a space and the implications it can have on the current inhabitants of a space