Behind the Apron Interview with Doris Harris
Object Details
- Creator
- Anacostia Museum
- Scope and Contents
- Through an oral history interview, Doris Harris talks about growing up in Lusbee, Maryland (Calvert County) with her nine siblings, and her parents' jobs (tobacco farming and housekeeping). Harris explains her work as a clam shucker at Warren Denton Seafood House (Calvert County, Maryland) and the difference between shucking clams and shucking oysters. She also describes her enjoyment for the job, the experience of women oyster workers, and changes in the clam shucking industry, particularly the diminished African American workforce. Both interviews - May 9, 1996 and May 12, 1997 - cover the same topics. The May 12 interview contains a bit more detail.
- Interview. Part of Behind the Apron oral history project. Dated 19960509 and 19970512 (transcribed from transcripts).
- Date
- May 12, 1997
- Extent
- 2 Sound recordings (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 Doris Harris, Behind the Apron oral history project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
- Identifier
- ACMA.09-007.28, Item ACMA AV005257
- Local Numbers
- ACMA AV005258
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There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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