Wes Modes, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati and a multidisciplinary artist, has launched a compelling initiative to unearth the untold narratives along America's riverbanks. The project, "A Secret History of American River People," seeks to amplify the voices and stories of individuals residing by the U.S. waterways. His summer adventure, which recently earned a spotlight in The New York Times, involved traveling on a handcrafted shantyboat and conducting over 175 interviews, documenting the local heritage and personal tales connected to these rivers.
Modes's journey spanned the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the bayous of Louisiana, leaving behind him a trail of preserved lore and culture. He collected stories of art, music, and work, alongside family traditions that are deeply intertwined with life on the water. A notable conversation, with ninety-year-old Hugh Paul Fanguy, lamented the gradual erosion of Louisiana's landscape: "It still shows up on the GPS," he said of islands that have since submerged into the bayou. Andrus Hebert, a former tugboat captain, once doubtful, praised Modes's effort as akin to a modern-day Huckleberry Finn voyage, proclaiming, “This is like Huckleberry Finn. You’re living it out,” according to the University of Cincinnati article.
Yet, Modes acknowledges the glaring absences in these narratives – notably, those of the descendants of enslaved people, and the native populations who had first settled along these rivers. The project brings to the fore a contemporary perspective of the rivers while simultaneously noting that displacement, gentrification, and environmental changes have marginalized some community voices, preventing them from sharing their own histories.
The "Secret History" project resonates with poignant reflections on environmental and social issues affecting river communities. In an era where land vanishes like specters, and socio-economic forces silently shape shorelines, Modes's work becomes a testament to the impermanence and flux of these waterside lives. As researchers and artists like Modes continue to weave the fabric of these stories, the project becomes less of an undertaking for anecdotal collection and more a medium through which untold stories, however forelorn, find their rightful place in the annals of American history.
