Chesapeake People
Meet local decoy carvers, watermen, and crab pickers and learn first-hand about Chesapeake Bay Maritime traditions. Let the experts tell you how it’s really done.

Our Chesapeake People program features skipjack captains and crew members, boat builders, hunters and decoy carvers, dipnet makers, crab pickers and oyster shuckers. From working the water to working in seafood packing houses, local residents have spent their lives making a living on the Bay.

Take a moment to visit with Chesapeake People demonstrators and hear their stories and experiences about life on the Chesapeake.

Background
There aren’t many people who have actually worked in a seafood packing house. You find fewer people who know how to make a dip net or who can carve decoys. But understanding this traditional work is vital to understanding the history of the Bay.

The Chesapeake People program brings these tradition-bearers to the Museum’s visitors. You can meet Alice Palmer (Top Photo), a long time resident of St. Michaels, and hear about the seafood packing plants on Navy Point. Before the Museum opened on the property in 1965, Navy Point was a bustling industrial area. View historic photographs and listen as Miss Alice shares memories of crossing the footbridge to go “down shore.” Miss Alice picked crabs and shucked oysters at two packing houses on Navy Point: Harrison and Jarboe, and Coulbourne and Jewett.


This program is supported by Maryland Humanities Council, Maryland Traditions, Maryland State Arts Council, and Talbot County Arts Council.

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