"The Truth in Every Myth is the Pearl in Every Oyster": Narratives of Chesapeake Bay Oystermen

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Fish, Oyster, Whale: The Archaeology of Maritime Traditions", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Oyster fishing in Chesapeake Bay underwent significant changes during the nineteenth century. Among the most visible changes was the introduction of industrial technologies and organization. Previously, the fishery was conducted at a small scale by individuals or small teams of owner-operators. These traditional oystermen adhered to a way of life that had served them and their families for hundreds of years. Opposing industrialization, however, led to rhetorical abuse in the way outside observers described their lifeways. In fact, these discourses said more about the dominant society than the oystermen themselves. After the heyday of the oyster fishery had ended, a revised and more positive narrative of Chesapeake Bay watering people emerged as mainstream society viewed them in a new light that again reflected its own needs and desires. Both positive and negative narratives created myths that distorted and masked aspects of life in the Chesapeake Bay oyster fishery.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Fish, Oyster, Whale: The Archaeology of Maritime Traditions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow