Behind the Apron Interview with Mary Dawkins
Object Details
- Creator
- Anacostia Museum
- Scope and Contents
- Through an oral history interview, Mary Dawkins talks about growing up and being raised by her grandparents in Lusbee, Maryland. She talks about her enjoyment as a clam and oyster shucker and her ability to earn money to send her children to college. Prior to working for Warren Denton Seafood House (Calvert County, Maryland), Dawkins worked as cook for Parrens and as a shucker for Lores, which went out of business. Dawkins describes her experience working as a clam and oyster shucker in detail. She explains the changes in the oyster, clam, and crab industries, particularly the oysters and crabs are smaller and not as plentiful, and the diminished African American workforce. She talks about working with Mexicans and the changing demographics of the employees working at Warren Denton Seafood House.
- Interview. Part of Behind the Apron oral history project. Undated.
- Date
- circa 1997
- Extent
- 1 Sound recording (audio cassette)
- Type
- Archival materials
- Sound recordings
- Oral histories (document genres)
- Interviews
- Topic
- African Americans
- African Americans -- Employment
- African Americans -- Maryland
- Oyster industry
- Clam industry
- Place
- Maryland
- United States
- Citation
- Behind the Apron Interview with Mary Dawkins, Behind the Apron oral history project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
- Identifier
- ACMA.09-007.28, Item ACMA AV005256
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Related Content
1 result(s)-
Behind the Apron: The History, Life, and Hidden Achievements of Southern Maryland's Black Oyster and Clam Workers
- Scope and Contents
- Behind the Apron oral history project documents the experiences of Black oyster and clam workers in Southern Maryland. The audio interviews were conducted by Shelia Montague Parker in 1997. The interviewees include: Doris Harris, Conroy Butler, Mary Hawkins, Christine Gray, Blondell Mason, Mary Washington, Ruth Smith, and Wiliam Bourne. The interviews explore issues such as: the connection between land and water, between farming and the fishing industry; the communal spirit and camaraderie amongst oyster workers; the experience of women oyster workers; and the changes in the oyster packing industry resulting in a diminshed African American workforce.
- Biographical / Historical
- African Americans have been an integral part of Southern's Maryland's proud commerical fishing industry. Nowhere has their contribution been more prominent than in the seaford houses along the Patuxent River. Until most recentely, in Calvert and other neighboring counties, the function of shucking oysters and clams was almost exlusively performed by African Americans. Black oyster and clam workers have brought dignity, skill, and a strong sense of community to a job that industry outsiders often consider "dirty work."
- Date
- 1997
- Extent
- 1 Linear foot
- 12 Sound recordings (audio cassette)
- Citation
- Behind the Apron oral history project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Sound recordings
- Oral histories (document genres)
- Transcripts
- Topic
- African Americans -- Employment
- African Americans -- Maryland
- African Americans
- Identifier
- ACMA.09-007.28