Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

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  • 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/

Interviewee Collection Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Ruby Lee Norris Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Rubie Lee Norris (1916-2012). Then still living in a pre-Civil War house built by her great uncle near Topping on the Rappahannock River, Norris remembered riding the steamers to college in Fredericksburg and told vivid stories of clerking in her father’s store, which was supplied by steamers. 

 Carrie Kline, Michael Kline Unknown Talking Across the Lines, Berea College Special Collections & Archives
Thomas A. Williams Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project

Thomas A. Williams (1925-2006). Son of an innovative Menhaden fishing boat captain, Williams provided an inventory of steamboat landings and lighthouses. He described the wide range of goods delivered to and from Northumberland County by steamers. 

 Carrie Kline Unknown Talking Across the Lines
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
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
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
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