Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

  • Collection DOI:
    Principal Investigator:
    Carrie Kline, Michael Kline

  • These interviews were recorded with residents of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of Virginia during 2003 who knew much about the history of steamboating in the region. Included were many now no longer living, who worked on the boats and wharves, those who rode them as passengers and crew, and those who shipped produce and manufactured items or ordered goods for delivery. At the time, copies of the recordings were provided to the Steamboat Era Museum in Irvington, Virginia for use in various educational programs.

    To browse this collection and others, please visit the Berea College Special Collections & Archives: https://bereaarchives.libraryhost.com/

Displaying 1 - 1 of 1

Page 1 of 1

Interviewee Collection Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Ella Wanda "Teenie" Edwards Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Interview at Gwynn's Island Museum with Ms. Gazelle Moore (Tootie) (Age 95), Uncle Henry Gwynn Edwards (Age 99), Ella Wanda "Teeniest" Edwards (Age 83), and Robert Stewart Edwards (Age 89). These life-long Gwynn’s Islanders together remembered nearly 350 years of vivid details of community and natural events. Their criss-crossing experiences helped jog each other’s memories of the steamboat era, including the Adams Floating Theater.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Hudgins, VA Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Walther Fidler Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Walther Fidler (1923-2013). Remembering his early boyhood, Walther Fidler spoke of bicycles flung asunder on the wharf, sneaking onto and all around the steamboat as it stopped in his home community of Sharps. Legislator Fidler speaks in vivid imagery of muscular Black stevedores entertaining the masses while loading recalcitrant calves aboard the tall, white vessels. He spoke of the vast disparity between Black and white households in the community and marveled at the positive spirit displayed by neighboring African-Americans.

 Carrie Kline Sharps, VA Talking Across the Lines
Eva Braxton and Joyce Xennia Long Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

At 101 Mrs. Braxton was articulate and good humored. A native of Middlesex County, she described her tenure teaching at African-American schoolhouses and earlier, working in the dairy at her childhood home. She graphically depicted the sounds and excitement that ensued with the coming of the steamboats. Her daughter Xennia Long rounded out the interview with her poetry on local life and culture.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Unknown Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
William Crosby Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Mr. Crosby was an African-American raconteur, a Lancaster County legend, who founded a snack shop just north of White Stone on Rt. 3. A veteran of the fishing industry, he knew every aspect of boating and sold seafood in Richmond over a forty-five year period.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Unknown Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Frances Simmons & William R. "Billy" Rowe Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Part 1. Frances Simmons (1928-2018). Widow of C. Jackson Simmons, Irvington historian, attorney and author, Frances Simmons wove together a cohesive picture of life about her father’s farm, including threshing machines, 4-H fairs, Adams Floating Theatre, beach excursions, dinners at home for family and black farmhands, wagon travel, and stevedores singing while loading goods on the wharves. Mrs. Simmons concluded her testimonial with recommendations for the Steamboat Era Museum.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline , Irvington, VA Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
William John Cowart, Jr. Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

With a father and grandfather who ran a cannery at the steamboat wharf, John Cowart's telling brought to life the Adams Floating Theatre, the rich singing of the Black men in his family’s oyster house, and the dynamic interaction at the country store.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Unknown Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Gazelle Moore Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Interview with Gazelle Moore

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Hudgins, VA Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Gladys Ashburn Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

"Right now, I can close my eyes and see that boat and hear the noises that it made.  When it came in the creek, it would blow the whistle and black smoke would come from it.  It was just great watching that steamboat come in." 

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Irvington, VA Talking Across the Lines
Harvey Morgan Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Harvey Morgan interview; Luncheon talk following interview with mother.

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline, Dianne Jordan Unknown Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Henry Gwyn Edwards Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Interview with Henry Gwyn Edwards 

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Hudgins, VA Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Subscribe to Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project