The Storied
Grounds Project:
An Ethnobiology of
Multicultural Boston

OVERVIEW

As the site of so many foundational events in American history, Greater Boston's economy and regional culture emphasize public history and ideas in ways that distinguish it from other metropolitan areas. From the Freedom Trail to the Malcolm X House, a life lived in Boston means time spent on storied grounds.

Integrating histories of people and place has emerged in recent years as a task of outdoor educators across the country, and this work is enriching people's experiences on the landscape. But insofar as history can equip us to live more deliberately in the present, our times may demand more expansive stories than those that history alone can provide.

Building upon a previous project that narrated the history of Mass Audubon's Boston Nature Center and its landscapes in Mattapan, The Storied Grounds Project aims to leverage voices from the Center's neighboring communities to weave a fresh account of its lands that can foster enchantment, inspire engagement, and seed solidarity. In particular, the project aims to elevate the ecological knowledges of herbalists, rootworkers, and other knowledge keepers from the primary ethnic enclaves that have emerged in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, but that have not yet been centered in social-natural histories of the surrounding region.

Insights shared in interviews with these knowledge keepers will be incorporated into a public digital resource that will elevate the individual voices of contributors and map their wisdom onto specific biota and landscapes that make up the Boston Nature Center. The vision is that this resource can be deployed in various ways by various parties to deepen local residents' feelings of belonging on the landscape and sense of themselves as rightful participants in (and authorities on) local ecology.

The project will culminate in a public, onsite gathering where all contributors, their loved ones, and neighbors will be invited to be in community and enjoy the convergence of these many distinct-yet-interconnected relationships to the local environment.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

This project seeks Boston-area herbalists, rootworkers and other knowledge keepers from the following communities for 30-minute interviews on their ecological knowledge practices:

• African American
• Dominican
• Haitian
• Vietnamese
• Cape Verdean
• Jamaican
• Trinidadian
• Tobagonian
• Barbadian
• Honduran
• West Indian
• Vincentian

If you would like to serve as a contributor or recommend someone, please reach out here.

PROJECT LEADER

This project is being led by Harvard Ph.D student Kaitlin Smith as a capstone project for her studies in Mass Audubon’s Field Naturalist Certificate Program. Learn more about Kaitlin here.

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