Shuckers' Tales
New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore
The Bayshore Center at Bivalve’s Oral History program is dedicated to preserving the oral history and culture of New Jersey’s Bayshore region by saving for posterity the oral histories and material culture connected with the Bayshore region, by creating a repository of recordings and data that can be used for research, by preserving, treasuring and celebrating the environment, history and culture of the Bayshore region and by sharing the heritage of the Bayshore region today and with future generations through program related activities serving visitors, students and scholars.
Seven local citizens of Port Norris, New Jersey shared their stories about their lives and jobs as shuckers in the various packing houses in Maurice River, Bivalve, Shellpile, Port Norris and Mauricetown, New Jersey. The panelist include: Georgia Robinson, Florence Robinson, Freddie Smith, Beryl Whittington, Margaret Towner, Anna Young and Sandra King. They describe how they shucked oysters using either the stabbing or cracking methods; what they were paid; and their living and working conditions. The program includes audience participation with question and answers from the panel. Location was the John Wesley Methodist Church, Port Norris, New Jersey.
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