A narrow, 70-mile long peninsula runs along the east coast of Virginia. Called the Eastern Shore, this farming community is my family home. I grew up there, my parents grew up there, my grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family grew up there. It is home.
It is a place of quiet beauty, isolated by water – the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other. I was the kid who listened to the older folks talk. That’s basically what I still like to do. One difference is that now, with their permission, I record the stories as I listen.
When I started recording these stories two summers ago, I thought it would be simple. I did not expect to feel so deeply connected to these stories, to feel so reconnected to my ancestors and to this place. Nor did I expect to for the interviews to propel me to ask questions about our assumptions about progress.
Through the collection of oral histories and photographs, I am learning about the production and preparation of locally grown food and the farm-based culture that surrounded this life. Between May 2009 and August 2010 – the first phase of the project – I collected interivews with 32 men and women who have lived or worked on farms in Accomack and Northampton Counties, particularly before 1960. I worked through the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society, with funding from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the PNC Foundation, and am deeply appreciative for the support and encouragement of these organizations.
The entries in this blog are excerpts from interviews. The photographs are family photographs shared with the project. All rights to this material are reserved in anticipation of a gallery exhibition and publication. A digital database will eventually be available through the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and the Eastern Shore Public Library.
I plan to continue interviewing people in this region, collecting their stories and intimate knowledge of this coastal landscape. I welcome your comments and I hope you enjoy these excerpts as much as I enjoy recording them.
Lee Bloxom
For more about the project: VFH Featured Grants page
