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. Williams was beloved by her community, until her passing in 2015.

Scope and Content Note
Mrs. Williams recalls, in vivid detail, the locations and owners—Desaocka, Sasser, Tumo, and Ambos—of prominent shrimp factories located throughout Savannah in her lifetime and the changes to the landscape of River Drive, formally known as Thunderbolt Bluff. She provides the names—Thorpe, Washington, Davis, and Redman—of African American captains who operated the boats owned by the shrimp factories and the many changes that occurred to the fishing industry and populations. Although she never went fishing, Mrs. Williams enjoyed the seasonal bounty of whiting and flounder, caught by local African American fisherman, and loved cleaning fish big or small.