JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Members of the community are invited to share their input as Jacksonville plans to install a monument honoring the victims of the Sapelo Island gangway collapse, known as the Sapelo 7.
The public is encouraged to share their feedback about the planned monument in an online survey, which lists four possible inscriptions.
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According to the survey, the commemorative boulder will be installed at Freedom Park and will honor the lives of the seven victims — four of whom were from Jacksonville — who died as they were boarding a ferry on Sapelo Island during the annual Gullah-Geechee festival in October 2024.
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The chosen text will appear on a brass plate atop a boulder engraved with the names:
- Isaiah Thomas
- Carlotta McIntosh
- Jacqueline Crews Carter
- Cynthia Alynn Gibbs
- Queen Welch
- William Lee Johnson Jr.
- Charles League Houston
The monument plans come a year after the tragic incident.
On Saturday, community members, victims’ families and survivors gathered in Sapelo Island to mark one year since the deadly gangway collapse.
The ceremony was organized by the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society (SICARS).
Ronald Johnson, president of the SICARS, was there when the collapse happened.
“Many of us were on the dock that day. Many Sapelo families were impacted and has been impacted over the last year. And I think it’s a great thing for us to come together and talk about it and share, have some emotional relief, together,” Johnson said.
Johnson said there are several memorials at various churches and communities to remember the lives lost on that day. However, he said they plan to add a permanent memorial on Sapelo Island and other places — Jacksonville is among them.
Freedom Park is located at the intersection of McCormick and Fort Caroline Roads in the Arlington section of East Jacksonville.
According to the City of Jacksonville, Freedom Park is the first marker commemorating a Gullah Geechee community in Jacksonville. Gullah Geechee are direct descendants of slaves who settled in the Coastal Lowlands, from North Carolina to North Florida. The city says the single largest concentration is in Jacksonville, but Freedom Park is the city’s first public area to recognize their history.