When this project was being conceived, a storm named Florence did not exist. It had not formed far off in the Atlantic yet, and it had not swirled toward North Carolina, where it would unload more than 30 inches of rain and remind us again of a simple, elemental truth: The weather contains us, not the other way around.

Florence made landfall in Wilmington, N.C., about 25 miles from the Elwell Ferry. The boat, driven by Pat Soesbee and Betty Rose Dolce, crosses the Cape Fear River. As we started our research, a North Carolina official said they may be kin. And indeed they are, cousins who take people from one riverbank to the next. Two cars max, four minutes each way, three if the water is on your side.

These women fit squarely with one of the aims of this project: to tell the untold stories of people throughout the United States. People living lives of unannounced grace and dignity.