Herman Haynes, better known as “Hanif,” grew up watching the daily ebb and flood of the Moon River behind his family’s property in Pin Point, Georgia—a small Gullah Geechee community founded in 1896 eleven miles southeast of Savannah, in Chatham County. The river played a pivotal role in Hanif’s life, as it was where he was baptized as a member of the Sweetfield of Eden Baptist Church and where he swam each summer with his friends. At the insistence of his family, Hanif pursued his education and employment outside of the crab industry.

Otis Hayward comes from a long line of independent, nomadic commercial fishermen on both sides of his family. In his teenage years, he worked as a striker on his father’s boat and traveled far from his small hometown of Thunderbolt, Georgia—five miles southeast of Savannah, in Chatham County—to follow seasonally migrating shrimp along Florida’s Atlantic coastline. Mr.

Commissioner Griffin Lotson reflects on his experience with the shrimp industry in Darien, Georgia. He discusses the role of fishing in the Gullah Geechee community in terms of making a living, ethnic identity, and culture.

Ernest McIntosh Sr. and his four brothers were born into a crabbing family, surrounded by 2,700 acres of coastal saltwater wildlife refuge in Harris Neck, Georgia—30 miles south of Savannah, in McIntosh County. Although his brothers immediately pursued crabbing with their father, Ernest worked as a construction laborer until he was laid off in 1978. He returned to the waters of his childhood and began commercially harvesting blue crab on the five boats owned by his family. After seeing no long-term future in the crabbing industry from environmental and environmental changes, Mr.

Mr. Wilson Moran, historian and Harris Neck decedent describes environmental stewardship in the local oyster and crab fishery. He gives an account of changes in the fishery due to anthropogenic impacts including pollution and over harvesting. Mr. Moran concludes his oral history explaining his father's work as a commercial crab fisherman and how a working knowledge of the estuary contributed to success in the fishery.

Mr. Charles Murray grew up in Savannah, Georgia surrounded by a fishing community his entire life. He learned the trade, which he found easy, from his father who was a commercial shrimper and was the first African American in Thunderbolt to own his own boat. Coastal Georgia was the epicenter for shrimping and was where he, his father, and two brothers made their living. Mr. Murray was one of 10 children and joined his father’s business at the age of 16; he married twice and had children and lived his entire life in Savannah.

Olive Smith is one of the original members of the Harris Neck community in McIntosh County Georgia. In her oral history, she explains how her mother provided food for the family by picking oysters at low tide during the winters and catching crabs. Olive's account is a brief glimpse of what life was like for the women of this fishing community.

Mrs. Annie Lee Thorpe was the seventh of eight children, born in 1923 in Mayport, Florida. Mrs. Thorpe recalls that her family structure changed when she was 12, after the death of her mother. She then moved to Savannah to live with her older sister; however, she was unable to complete her primary education due to her sister’s illness. Soon after, Mrs. Thorpe married James Joseph “Joe” Thorpe, one of the few African American shrimp boat captains in Savannah. They began their family in 1953 and had four children.

Reverend Robert Thorpe, one of the original members of the Harris Neck community explains fishing, crabbing, and oyster picking in McIntosh County, Georgia. He recounts the locations and ownership succession of oyster factories in the area. Thorpe's oral history describes how catch was sold in Harris Neck and surrounding communities to support his family; the roles of men and women working in oyster plants; and wintertime trapping as a way to supplement fishing income.

Mrs. Cassie Williams, a native of Thunderbolt, Georgia—a small community five miles southeast of Savannah in Chatham County, was born in 1934 and was the youngest of eight children. After completing six years of school in Savannah, she traveled to New York to finish her education, but had to return before graduation to take care of her father. Mrs. Williams grew up surrounded by a fishing community, where she and her husband of 53 years raised their children and grandchildren in the house he built.  Throughout her life, Mrs.