ORANGE PARK — It's been well over a year since a group of local residents banded together to start one of Clay County's newest historical societies.

It was a vision that came from a blanketed mission to showcase all the local Black culture there is to offer. And now, the African American Historical Society of Clay County is kicking off its new nonprofit status at full speed ahead. 

President Janice Tucker and Vice President Dr. Larry Richardson said it's all a part of a mission to document, preserve and continue sharing the countless stories of rich Black history within the local community.

And in a world that often forgets, Tucker said, the AAHSCC was birthed to make sure that all of them are told in their entirety — before it's too late.

 "Time is of the essence," she said.

While many historians thrive with documented records, it remains an immense hurdle when historians lose key resources to learning more about the past and building towards the future. That's why they said it's important to start digging now.

"It's just a matter of getting the history," Tucker said. "And sometimes it takes a little more time to get it because you've got to go deep into the archives."

For months, members of the nonprofit have continued to conduct thorough research to piece together a never-ending puzzle of history. That means interviewing and documenting a digital realm of untold stories. It also means searching for artifacts, tracing family lineage and even recording oral histories and archival information.

With a leadership team deeply embedded in the community, Tucker said it was only a matter of time before she, Richardson, Ken Francis, Debra Austin, Doris Jordan, Dr. Cheryl Gonzalez, Barbara Alridge and Pamela Monk joined together to get the journey going.

Since then, they've dived deeper into memorable figures like Orange Park's Bernard Fennell, who excelled as one of the first African Americans to join the diplomatic corps overseas.

They've reiterated the accounts of well-known trailblazers like Middleburg's Maude Jackson, an 84-year-old retired schoolteacher and principal at the original Middleburg Colored School who dedicated her life to advancing education during the era of segregation. And Augusta Savage, a Green Cove Springs artist and key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

They've also drawn attention to renowned opera singer Cynthia Hayman-Coleman who grew up right in Penney Farms, and even Richardson's grandfather Samuel Patterson who was a Green Cove Springs city councilman during the Reconstruction era.

"Those are the types of things that we want to inform people, especially folks in the African American community [that] don't know a lot of that," Richardson said. "No one else will tell your story, or they won't tell it accurately, like you would."

In collaborating with other historical societies in the area, Richardson said AAHSCC has been able to show their faces and garner support. While other groups have bits and pieces of African American history, Tucker said the nonprofit can join in and connect the dots to what may be unknown, lost, misinterpreted or even left out altogether.

And she said they are just getting started. For the future, they hope to continue building a robust digital footprint, and begin applying for funding grants to further their purpose.

Those with stories that would like to share can visit aahsccfl.org and submit any information they may have. 

"Our number one goal... is to take that deep dive and find the rest of the story and additional stories to make all of the pieces come together to give a complete puzzle of who the African Americans in this county [are]."