African American Oystermen

K-322

Hobson is an example of an African American oystering village that developed during the last quarter of the 19th century on the James River, the Chesapeake Bay and their tributaries. As in other watermen communities, people also farmed and worked at nearby shucking houses and canning facilities. Hobson's black oystermen worked oyster beds in the James and Nansemond Rivers and Chuckatuck Creek that were leased primarily from the state. Bay region oyster beds were once among the richest in the world. Starting in the late 1950s Virginia's oyster production declined because of pollution, such as the chemical kepone, oyster diseases, weather, and overharvesting, which caused many of the oystermen to leave in the search of other employment.

Department of Historic Resources, 2005

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Sources Consulted Include: John E. Aliyetti, “The Bellevue Seafood Company,” The Weather Gauge 33 (Fall 1997): 4-11; Harold Anderson, “Black Men, Blue Waters: African Americans on the Chesapeake, “Maryland Marine Notes Online 16 (March-April 1998), http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MarineNotes/Mar-Apr98/index.html, 9 July 2004; “Blacks of the Chesapeake,” http://www.dnr.state.md.us/irc/boc.html, 9 July 2004; David S. Cecelski, The Waterman’s Song: Slavery and Freedom in Maritime North Carolina (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), xii-xiii, 79-81; Larry S. Chowning, Harvesting the Chesapeake (Centreville, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1990); Robert de Gast, The Oysterman of the Chesapeake (Camden, Me.: International Marine Publishing Co., 1970); William J. Hargis, Jr. and Dexter Haven, The Imperiled Oyster Industry of Virginia: A Critical Analysis with Recommendations for Restorations (Gloucester Point, Va.: Virginia Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service, Feb. 1988); Dexter S. Haven, William J. Hargis, and Paul C. Kendall, The Oyster Industry of Virginia: Its Status, Problems, and Promise, A Comprehensive Study of the Oyster Industry in Virginia (Gloucester Point, Va.: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 1978).Lamont W. Harvey, “Black Oystermen of the Bay County… Particularly St. Michaels, Maryland,” The Weather Gauge 30 (Spring 1994): 4-13; Kermit Hobbs and William A. Paquette, Suffolk: A Pictorial History (Norfolk: Donning Company, 1987), 153-154, 164; Vincent Leggett, “Blacks on the Chesapeake Project On the Bay,” http://www.dnr.state.md.us/irc/introduction.html, 9 July 2004; Charlie Petrocci, “A Lasting Heritage: African Americans Have Played an Important Role in the Development of Chesapeake Bay’s Fabled Fishing Industry,” National Fisherman May 1998: 26-27; Post Office Records, Microfilm 836, Roll Number 617 at the Library of Virginia; William Taylor Thom, “The Negroes of Litwalton, Virginia: A Social Study of the ‘Oyster Negro’,” Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 37 (November 1901): 1115-1170.