Behind the Apron Interview with Ruth Smith

Object Details

Scope and Contents: Through an oral history interview, Ruth Smith describes her experience working as an oyster shucker for 23 years at the Warren Denton Seafood House (Calvert County, Maryland). She spoke of the fastest oyster shuckers at the seafood house, her participation in oyster shucking competitions, and the changes in the oyster shucking industry. Smith also talked about her family and growing up in Calvert County, Maryland.; Interview. Part of Behind the Apron oral history project. One interview is dated 19970530 (transcribed from transcripts) and the other one is undated.

Type: Archival materials; Sound recordings; Oral histories (document genres); Interviews

Topic: African Americans; African Americans -- Employment; African Americans -- Maryland; Oyster industry; Clam industry

Citation: Behind the Apron Interview with Ruth Smith, Behind the Apron oral history project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

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Behind the Apron: The History, Life, and Hidden Achievements of Southern Maryland's Black Oyster and Clam Workers

Date

1997