Wars!! Overview Students will use primary and secondary sources

to explore the Oyster Wars’ causes, conflicts, and 6 Exploration participants.

Skills Critical Thinking, Observation, Reading, Reasoning, Social Studies, U.S. History

You Will Need • 60 – 90 minutes • 5 copies of the Activity Sheet (after Explore It!) • 5 Exploration Cards • Students in pairs or small groups

Teacher’s Notes Vocabulary You may wish to begin by discussing with students the idea that there are always at Aggregate: total, taken least two sides to a disagreement, argument, or considered as a whole or conflict. Have students give examples of Commodities: things conflicts that are currently featured in the which are bought and sold; news. Next, have students read Discover It! and something of use or value identify the conflicts presented. Conflict: a disagreement Place the Exploration Cards at five stations among people or organizations throughout the classroom. Divide the class Maintain order: to keep the into small groups or pairs. Rotate the groups community clean, safe, and through the stations. As they move through the organized for the good of stations, students should complete the Activity all citizens Sheet. Those groups waiting for a station or who have completed all the stations can work on the Rule: something you must or questions on the Activity Sheet. must not do At the end of the Exploration review the Tongs: rake-like tools with completed Activity Sheets with the students and twelve- to thirty-foot- discuss the question, “Who fought in the Oyster long handles used to Wars and what was the conflict?” scoop up Tongers: people who harvest oysters using Additional Resources tongs John R. Wennersten, The Oyster Wars of (Centreville, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1981)

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 28 Exploration 6 29 Eastern Bay for tongers. Chesapeake’s rivers, creeks, andmostofthe to waters theopen oftheBay the andreserved 1865 laws were passedthat limited dredgers theirfavoriteand wiped oyster barsclean. In watched asdredgeboats inalarm swooped in oysters)and hand-heldtongs to harvest tongers (watermen whousedsmallerboats used upmostoftheoyster stocks). Hand from New England(where they hadalready Dredges were firstbrought Bayto the in1808 who decideswhat’s afairshare? wanted to gethisfairshare ofthefortune. But multi-million dollarbusinessandeveryone death struggles. The was a oyster industry oysters, theBay aplace became oflife-and- oystermen competed themost to harvest I to dredge there ornot, andto drive offanyState force sentagainst them. armed men. These menhave bandedtogether to pursuetheircalling grounds, oncertain are whetherthey authorized oyster vessels, large andsmall, owned inMaryland. Their number, crews intheaggregate, 4,000and6,000 between isrebellion andnothingless.It The situationwhichconfronts thestate authorities isthis: There are more than800 Oyster Wars!! commodities ontheAtlantic coast. As Bay oysters were oneofthemostvaluable n theyears theCivil after War, Chesapeake

The tongers vs. the dredgers Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C Discover It!

established its own enforcement fleet. followedsoon ’s example and Navy to maintain order ontheBay. decidedto create an Oyster Maryland hadgrown 1868theconflict By sobad, at themfrom theshore. confronted these “oyster pirates” by shooting at night inthetongers’ waters. Tongers dredging began captains some was arecipe for war. To thenewrules, dodge protected waters for reserved tongers, this water versus theeaseofdoing sointhe ofdredgingGiven inopen thedifficulty

legal for dredging for legal Deeper waters waters Deeper

Maryland Governor Jackson, Elihu Maryland 1888

OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE

legal for tonging for legal Shallow waters waters Shallow OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Oyster Wars!! Explore It!

Who fought in the Oyster Wars? 6 Exploration

Activity • Have you ever noticed that there are often, if not always, at least two sides to a disagreement, argument, or conflict? What are some examples that you can think of? • What is the conflict identified inDiscover It!? Oystermen who dredged illegally at night What are the different were called pirates. sides of the conflict? Who represents these different sides? What Else Can I Do? • Carefully look at the Why are museums great places to visit? Exploration Cards. The Because at a museum you see the REAL thing. article, cartoon, and Items and objects you may have read about in illustrations were created a history book are there for you to see. Many during the time of the museums have hands-on exhibits that let you Oyster Wars. The map explore, discover, try, and touch. Visit your has been redrawn from a local museum or historical society. You may historic map. Complete be surprised how much fun you’ll have. the Activity Sheet as Museums you could visit to discover more you move through the about oysters and oystering include – stations. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland www.cbmm.org Bet You 410-745-2916 Didn’t The Calvert Marine Museum Know.... Most of in Solomons, Maryland the gossip in the barber www.calvertmarinemuseum.org 410-326-2042 shops, markets, and saloons in Crisfield, Maryland, in 1885 was about The Baltimore Museum of Industry oysters. in Baltimore, Maryland www.thebmi.org 410-727-4808

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 30 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Complete thistableasyou move through thestations. Police Schooner catching illegal Julia HamiltonJulia Quote by Fish Map showingMap Attacking the Attacking dredgers are tongers and Oyster NavyOyster areas where and Wildlife Whitehouse Newspaper Document The Pirates Article- of Captain Inspector dredgers Shooting Shooting allowed The

What/ Who is the source? Activity Sheet Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C What isthe conflict? What sidesare represented? source favor a conflict? If so, conflict? which one? side inthe Does the Does Oyster Wars!! 31

Exploration 6 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Exploration Card Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C Oyster Wars!! 32

Exploration 6 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Exploration Card Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C Oyster Wars!! 33

Exploration 6 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Exploration Card Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C Oyster Wars!! 34

Exploration 6 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE An Inspector, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1887 those onBaltimore vessels. surrounding neighborhoods, andeven asaclassare notasdegraded as the lower counties ofMaryland. The ofthese are crews gathered from the honorable men. This ismore thecase especially owned ontheboats in such surroundings asthesethere are whoare and somefew respectable wordsa few isagratifying ofEnglish...It fact, though, thateven amid represented), being European country every unableto more speak than city. areThey principallywhites, manyofwhomare foreigners (almost jails, penitentiaries, work-houses, andthelowest andvilestdensofthe to ofworkmen found inthecountry. be bodies areThey gathered from men. These men, taken asaclass, oneofthemostdepraved form perhaps unscrupulousness ofthecaptain iswell assisted by thecharacter ofhis unscrupulous men, norman...The whoregard ofGod neitherthelaws on inseven hundred boats, hundred manned by daring and fifty-six hasbecome] ageneral ...simply scramble,[Dredging inMaryland carried Exploration Card Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C Oyster Wars!! 35

Exploration 6 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE legal for dredging watersDeep

Exploration Card Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C legal for tonging Shallow waters Oyster Wars!!

36

Exploration 6 In the Can

Overview Students will learn how oysters were marketed to the public by examining historic oyster can labels. Students will design a label or advertisement for their own brand of oysters. Skills Teacher’s Notes Art, Creative Writing,

Several days before you plan to complete this Exploration you Observation, Reading, 7 Exploration may wish to assign students the homework of collecting Social Studies, Teamwork advertisements that they find appealing from magazines, newspapers, circulars, or product packaging. Have the You Will Need students bring the advertisements and packaging to class the day you want to teach the Exploration. • 60 - 90 minutes Begin by discussing with students the idea of • 4 Exploration Cards advertising and how it is used to encourage people to • Paper and drawing purchase a product. Explain how food packaging and materials labels are also a form of advertising. Ask the students • Students working to look at the samples they brought to class. Have them individually or in compare the modern packaging with the historic oyster can small groups labels and ads. For the activity you may wish to have the students choose to work individually to create an oyster can label for their own brand of oysters or work in a small group creating a 30-second Vocabulary advertisement for their brand of oysters. Advertising: giving information to Additional Resources people about a The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Oystering on the product Chesapeake exhibit includes many examples of oyster canning Canning: preserving labels and advertising. a product, usually The Baltimore Museum of Industry has a hands-on oyster food, in a can cannery program and the Calvert Marine Museum includes Competition: a the J.C. Lore and Sons cannery that is open to the public. business or person It is a good idea to call and let them know when you want who sells the same to visit. product that you do; The Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland a rival www.calvertmarinemuseum.org, 410-326-2042 Consumer: a person The Baltimore Museum of Industry in Baltimore, Maryland who buys a product www.thebmi.org, 410-727-4808

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 37 In the Can OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Discover It!

ysters from the Chesapeake Bay were one of the first Ofoods to be preserved by canning. Sealing food into cans keeps it fresh longer. Oysters in the can could keep up to six months. This allowed people from all over the world to buy and eat oysters from their oysters were fresher, tastier, or the Chesapeake Bay. healthier than anyone else’s. Most of the early packinghouses Oyster canning labels were the Exploration 7 Exploration were in Baltimore, but by the late advertisements for the oysters nineteenth and early twentieth and the packinghouse. Oyster centuries oyster packinghouses had packinghouses were in stiff spread into rural areas, including competition with each other to sell Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Most their oysters. The canning labels had businesses were small, family-run to be attractive and catch the eye operations. Colbourne and Jewett of the consumer so that they would Seafood Company, one of Maryland’s choose one brand over another. The largest black-owned packinghouses, labels also included pictures and operated in St. Michaels in the place words that made it seem that the where the Chesapeake Bay Maritime oysters were fresh and local. Notice Museum now stands. how many have the names and pictures of Chesapeake places or Before they were canned, oysters boats on them. The labels also boast were eaten close to the place where of the great taste of the oysters. they were caught. So the new canners had a small problem: how to Like modern product packaging, convince people used to eating fresh, canning labels contained local oysters to eat steamed oysters information important to the in a can? Good advertising was the consumer such as the weight, quality, key! Since all Chesapeake oysters are and source of the product. Canning basically the same, canners also used and smart advertising helped to fuel advertising to convince people that the oyster boom of the late 1800s.

38 CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE In the Can Explore It! How did advertising make eating canned oysters popular?

Activity CR • Look at samples of modern advertisements AZY and product packaging. OYSTERS Which ones make you want to buy the product? Exploration 7 Exploration What do they have in common?

• Compare the modern packaging with the historic oyster can labels. What information do they include? How are they same as the modern packaging? Different? Are there special words or types of pictures • Imagine that you own an oyster cannery. that they all have in common? Has this You need to create a label for your oysters formula changed over time? that is going to make people buy your oysters rather than your competitor’s If the historic labels were used to sell oysters. Come up with a name for your oysters today would they be as successful brand of oysters and design a can label. as they were originally? Why or why not? or Work with a few classmates to create a 30-second commercial for your brand of oysters. Bet You Didn’t Oysters were first canned in Know.... Baltimore. Before canning, oysters were What Else Can I Do? sold by peddlers carrying buckets of fresh oysters Ohie! Ohie! Oysters through the streets, singing For one day keep a tally of the fine and cheap. Singing was their form of number of advertisements that advertisement. you see during the day.

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 39 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE In the Can Exploration Card Exploration 7 Exploration

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 40 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE In the Can Exploration Card Exploration 7 Exploration

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 41 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE In the Can Exploration Card Exploration 7 Exploration

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 42 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE In the Can Exploration Card Exploration 7 Exploration

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 43 disease, habitat loss, and pollution. percent ofhistoric levels dueto overharvesting, Bay oyster population isnow at lessthantwo oysters. They that willalsolearn theChesapeake where conditions wereestuary idealfor growing Students Bay that willlearn theChesapeake isan Overview liquid (synonym: silt) other matter that settleto thebottom ofa Sediment: made oftwo pieces hingedtogether Bivalves: without flaws Purity: (used assingularorplural) Spat: Bay bottom group ofoysters growing together onthe Oyster anoyster bar(alsocalled bed): stream; adrainage area Watershed: Recycle: water andsaltwater meet Estuary: Vocabulary Disappearing OysterDisappearing The ofthe Mystery ayoung oyster, oryoung oysters the quality of being clean, ofbeing thequality clear, or to reuse anitem anarea of water where fresh soft-bodied animalswith shells soft-bodied tiny pieces of dirt, sand, dust, or anarea drained by ariver or Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C a

• • You Will Need Studies Social Science, Informative Writing, Reading, Art, Critical Thinking, Environmental Skills line resources theBay about andoysters. www.chesapeakebay.net The Bay Chesapeake Program at Additional Resources present theircompleted projects. Allow timeinclassfor thestudents to asahomework assignment.of theactivity limited, you may wishto assignthisportion information from thetable. timeis If announcement and usingthecharacters Bay Award, Helper orradio publicservice have thestudents create a Wanted Poster, the students theliststhey developed. Next andfillitinas you discusswith blackboard may wishto copy thetable onto the couldperson doto helptheBay. You may theBay harming be andthingseach table by listingspecific waysperson each students work inpairsto complete the may theBay. harming be Have the whoseactivities ofpeople descriptions that thetablein their own life. Explainto thestudents students to come upwithexamples from ontheenvironment.impacts Ask the have can activities positive ornegative students theideathat people’s daily students read You may wishto by begin having the Teacher’s Notes • Art Supplies(paper,Art crayons, 60 minutes colored markers) Students working inpairs Students working Discover It! Explore It! Explore hasextensive on- Discuss with Discuss contains

44

Exploration 8 The Mystery of the Disappearing Oyster OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Discover It!

Bay oysters used to grow in tall reefs that elevated oysters from the silty bottom into food-rich currents above. Reefs provided far more nooks and crannies for creatures to hide in than flatter beds do. In the 19th century, oyster beds were so large that they were considered navigational hazards. After 120 years of intense dredging, very few reefs remain in the Bay.

The Washington Post, May 23, 1993

he Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, running 195 miles long and T passing through two states, Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay is also the greatest oyster factory in the world. Along its length, fresh water from New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia combines with salt water from the sea in just the right amounts (and at just the right depths and temperatures) to create a perfect environment for oysters.

Oysters are filter feeders that draw in water over their gills. The suspended food, plankton, and particles in the water are trapped in the gills and eaten. This filtering action is important to the overall health of the Bay because it cleans the water. One oyster, for example, filters up to 48 gallons of water per day. The entire Chesapeake Bay - 18 trillion gallons – is filtered once a year by the oyster population. When oysters were at their peak in population, they could filter the entire Bay once Exploration 8 Exploration every three to six days! Today, oyster populations are disappearing. What could be causing this? Along with oysters, over Housing developments that sacrifice forests and fields cause increased soil to 2,700 species of plant and be washed off the land by rain. This sediment then runs into the Bay burying and killing healthy oyster animals call the Bay home. beds. Motor oil thrown away improperly finds its way into the Bay and in turn kill oysters. Over 15 million people live just a few minutes from one or more of the hundreds of streams, But the Bay’s story doesn’t have to have an unhappy creeks, or rivers that drain into the Bay. Many of ending. You can take simple steps to stop this their daily activities directly affect the Bay. Lawns damage to the Bay. You can carpool, combine trips, and gardens cover more than 500,000 acres in and use public transportation; recycle; pull weeds the Bay watershed. Use of too much fertilizer and by hand and reduce the use of lawn chemicals; use pesticides result in these chemicals being washed natural products such as lemon oil, salt or vinegar into the Bay. Excess fertilizer and manure run-off for cleaning instead of household chemicals; from farms is also a principal polluter. Fertilizers dispose of motor oil at a certified oil disposal site; cause huge amounts of algae to grow in the water. and plant native trees and shrubs in your yard to These algae absorb oxygen from the Bay and prevent run-off into the street and storm drains. suffocate baby oysters. Chemicals in household You have the power to make the Bay’s future bright! cleaning supplies also find their way into the watershed. Are you beginning to see that what each of us does on land affects the Bay?

45 CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE The Mystery of the Disappearing Oyster Explore It! How do Bay residents impact the Bay and the oyster?

Activity • Carefully read Discover It! • Create a Wanted Poster for a Chesapeake Bay polluter • Read the descriptions of the people or Create a Bay Helper Website or Award for a person below. Fill in the table for what each who helped the Bay person may be doing to harm the Bay or Write a 30-second public service radio announcement and what they could do to help the Bay. teaching people about how they can help the Bay.

Person Harms the Bay Could Help the Bay Myhulz Leaky: An oysterman who sometimes takes a few more oysters than his daily limit.

Gladys Tuliproud: A gardener who makes sure her gardens are kept bug free and beautiful by using fertilizers and pesticides.

Dilbert Porkbelly: Uses manure and fertilizer to grow his corn or soybean crop. 8 Exploration

Seymour Sprawl: Builds houses that can be seen for miles around because he likes to clear away all the trees before he begins to build.

Olivia Oilcan: Owns a garage and keeps leaky barrels of used oil in the field behind her shop.

The Roadhog Family: They love to play in the outdoors. They own a big boat and a big truck to tow the boat with. The Roadhog Family is always driving somewhere. Bet You What Else Can I Do? Didn’t An oyster today is considered Know.... Plant trees for the Bay. Stencil messages like large if it is 3 inches from hinge to bill “Chesapeake Bay Drainage….Don’t Dump!” around (like me!). In the 1700s, a large the storm drains in your school’s neighborhood. oyster was 10 Contact the Chesapeake Bay Foundation at 410-268-8816 or www.cbf.org to learn more about these important opportunities for students. 3” CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 46

by nature by

and bodies of water formed formed water of bodies and

Physical features: features: Physical

from another place place another from

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the natural physical qualities qualities physical natural the

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affect the way people live people way the affect

animals that surround and and surround that animals

characteristics, air, plants, and and air, plants, characteristics,

Environment:

Vocabulary

www.chesapeakebay.net

Chesapeake Bay Program Bay Chesapeake

MarineNotes

www.mdsg.umd.edu/

Maryland Marine Notes Marine Maryland

Resources

Additional Additional

•

•

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You Will Need You Will

Studies, U.S. History U.S. Studies,

Writing, Reading, Social Social Reading, Writing,

Geography, Informative Informative Geography,

Art, Creative Writing, Writing, Creative Art,

Skills

oyster and oystering. oystering. and oyster

entirely dedicated to the the to dedicated entirely

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Dredge Up” Dredge

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the geographic geographic the landforms landforms

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Oyster

the project. Set department department Set project. the

day for groups to work on on work to groups for day

Allow enough class time per per time class enough Allow

Technology, and Opinion. and Technology,

Lifestyle, Classifieds, Science and and Science Classifieds, Lifestyle,

departments are News, Regional, Regional, News, are departments

the newspaper. Examples of of Examples newspaper. the

for a specific department of of department specific a for

group will be responsible responsible be will group

the class into groups. Each Each groups. into class the

entirely to oystering. Divide Divide oystering. to entirely

a newspaper that is dedicated dedicated is that newspaper a

that they are going to create create to going are they that

sections. Explain to the students students the to Explain sections.

list of common newspaper newspaper common of list

and brainstorm, as a class, a a class, a as brainstorm, and

students look at newspapers newspapers at look students

school library. Then have the the have Then library. school

their research with a trip to the the to trip a with research their

to have the students broaden broaden students the have to

these towns. You may also wish wish also may You towns. these

importance of oystering to to oystering of importance

Explore It! Explore

Bay communities (listed in in (listed communities Bay

web-sites of several Chesapeake Chesapeake several of web-sites

materials and by browsing the the browsing by and materials

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Teacher’s Notes Teacher’s

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THE

Discover It! Discover

Maryland Crisfield,

student work and discoveries. and work student

be used as a time to celebrate celebrate to time a as used be

Bay Maritime Museum, can can Museum, Maritime Bay

November at the Chesapeake Chesapeake the at November

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to enjoy. An occasion such as as such occasion An enjoy. to

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software to lay out their their out lay to software

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Times November 20 November

47 th

Exploration 9 The Oyster Times OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Discover It!

Little villages are springing up in most of the Harbors of the Bay and its tributaries with access to the oyster beds…. stimulated by the richness of our oyster beds and the importance of the trade.

Hunter Davidson, Commander of Maryland Oyster Police, 1868

ave you ever seen a town built on oyster shells? On the shores Hof the Chesapeake, many towns were actually built on oyster shells. More oysters have been harvested from the Chesapeake than any other place on earth. Well into the twentieth century oystering represented the Bay’s most valuable fishery. The money and jobs from oystering built and sustained hundreds of communities, changing subscriptions purchased, in oysters. lives forever. Large mounds of oyster shells Towns grew and prospered with marked the sites of packinghouses. oystering. By the 1880s Crisfield had Communities grew to support the the largest oyster trade in the state oyster industry. Houses and boarding and employed over 600 vessels. Like houses were built to shelter workers. many waterfront towns, St. Michaels Workers were needed to shuck and was almost abandoned by the male pack oysters, repair ships and tools, population during the day as all able- mend sails, and load needed supplies. bodied men went out oystering. In Transportation lines, first ships then rail, southern Maryland, Solomons Island were created and updated to speed the was a center for oyster processing and shipment of the oysters. the construction and repair of oystering vessels. The environment, geographic Today, with the decline in the oyster characteristics, and physical features of harvest, some of these places have these towns made them ideal locations become ghost towns while others have for the oyster business. found different ways to succeed. The Exploration 9 Exploration same characteristics that made these In these communities, life revolved towns ideal for oystering now make around the oyster. Husbands caught them appealing to visitors. Tourists, them, wives shucked them, children boaters, and recreational fishermen visit walked to school on roads made from the area and shop in the towns’ stores, their shells. It was not unheard of stay in the hotels, explore the museums, for rent to be paid, even newspaper and eat in the restaurants.

48 CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE The Oyster Times Explore It! What was the importance of oysters and oystering to Chesapeake Bay communities?

Activity • Research the importance of oystering to Chesapeake Bay communities. To begin your research use the Internet links listed below and ask your school librarian to show you how to find books, magazines, and newspaper articles on the topic. www.stmichaelsmd.org www.sba.solomons.md.us www.crisfield.com

• Create a newspaper – dedicated entirely to oystering. • Work together to create and write your department’s section of the newspaper. • Take a look at a local, daily newspaper. Remember: Everything in the newspaper What features do they have? has to be related to oystering or oysters. • Brainstorm a list of common As examples, an article on the sports page newspaper sections. might describe a skipjack race or an ad in the classifieds might be looking for a shucker. As • Your class will be divided into groups. with all newspapers, you will have a deadline. Each group will be responsible for a By the deadline, you must present to your specific department of the newspaper editor (your teacher!) your department’s such as News, Local Community, Lifestyle, finished section. So reporters – time’s wasting. and Classifieds. Get to work!

Bet You Didn’t What Else Can I Do? Know.... Scan your daily newspaper for Exploration 9 Exploration articles about the Bay, oysters, In the 1870s, several San and other Bay resources. Clip Francisco merchants had 4,000 bushels of the articles out. Begin a Bay oysters shipped from St. Michaels to California. They didn’t want to eat these oysters - they wanted to plant Watch notebook with the articles. Ask your school or the oysters in the waters of California and start their local librarian for advice on own oyster business. presenting and preserving the articles in a notebook.

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 49 It’s About Time

Teacher’s Notes You may wish to read the It’s About Time Date Sheets (after Explore It!) before beginning this Exploration with your students. The Date Sheets provide an overview of the history of oystering on the Bay. Begin with a discussion of oysters as a natural resource. If your class has not Overview made timelines before, show them what a timeline is and how to create one. Then Students will construct timelines that divide the class into groups of three. Give provide an overview of the history of each group a set of the three Date Sheets: oystering. This activity can be used as Historic, Legal, and Harvests. Instruct them an introduction to a unit on oystering to work together to choose the twelve to or as a concluding activity. sixteen most important dates that together tell the story of oystering. Using these Skills dates, the students will create a timeline. Decision Making, Reading, Social Post the completed timelines in the Studies, Teamwork, U.S. History classroom. Use focused questioning to help the students discover key points about oystering from the information You Will Need contained in the timelines such as: • 90 minutes • People have been attempting to • It’s About Time Date Sheets control the oyster population for many • Paper, colored pens, crayons, or years. markers, rulers • With the introduction of oyster • Students working in groups of three dredging, canning, and railroads, oyster harvest figures increased. Additional Resources • As harvest figures increased, laws were enacted to regulate oystering. The Bay Trippers web-site contains additional timelines of Bay history. • Large harvests were not sustainable. They can be viewed at www.mpt.org/ • Factors other than over-harvesting learningworks/baytrippers/index.html have depleted the oyster population.

Vocabulary Deplete: to use up or reduce Regulate: to control or the supply of something direct by a rule or law Exploration 10 Exploration CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 50 It’s About Time OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE Discover It!

The abundance of oysters is incredible. There are whole banks of them so that the ships must avoid them…the oysters surpass those in England by far in size, indeed, they are four times as large. I often cut them in two, before I could put them in my mouth.

Louis Michel, a Swiss traveler to the Bay area in 1701

ong before the first pyramid was all their lives was seen as taking away their erected in Egypt, people were rights. Eventually Virginia (where harvests L harvesting oysters from the declined faster than in Maryland) removed Chesapeake Bay. Even today the occasional large areas of the Bay from public harvest pile of discarded oyster shells is unearthed and made them available for growing miles inland, evidence of an early Native oysters. In Maryland the private farming of American feast. oysters is practiced only on a limited scale. Just about as long as people have been In the mid-twentieth century, concerned eating oysters, they have feared the citizens began to take notice of troubling depletion of oyster populations and signs: diseases were killing oysters in the made laws to try to regulate their harvest. Bay and water quality was declining. In the Conservation efforts on the Chesapeake 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Air Act began in the early nineteenth century and the Clean Water Act, citizens formed when first Virginia and then Maryland watershed groups, and officials banned outlawed dredging. certain pesticides and toxic chemicals. In the 1880s, W.K. Brooks, professor at A framework for Bay restoration goals Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was put in place in 1983 with the first and a leading oyster biologist, began Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The recommending that the Bay’s oysters agreement formed the Chesapeake Bay could be saved by raising them as a Program: a partnership between Maryland, crop. Brooks recommended the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District Maryland and Virginia lease out sections of of Columbia, the U.S. Environmental Bay bottom to private businessmen who, Protection Agency, and the Chesapeake in turn, would use the grounds to grow Bay Commission. Its highest priority, the oysters. Watermen were furious. The idea restoration of the Bay’s living resources, that someone might claim to “own” Bay remains a strong goal today. bottom they had harvested oysters from Exploration 10 Exploration 51 CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE It’s About Time Explore It! What is the story of oystering?

Activity • Your class will be divided into groups • Using your selected dates/events, of three. Each group will get a set of create your timeline. Date Sheets. • After the timelines are completed, • Working together as a group, select post them somewhere in your a total of twelve to sixteen dates/ classroom where they can be events from all three Date Sheets viewed together. that work together to tell the story • What is the story the timelines tell? of oystering.

What Else Can I Do? Start a Student Bay Saver Club Ask your school librarian to at your school. Contact the recommend a book that explores Chesapeake Bay Foundation to the people and places of the learn about the Bay Savers program Chesapeake Bay or check out one of and how to start one at your school. these: Write to: Oyster Moon by Margaret Meacham Chesapeake Bay Foundation On an Island in the Bay Philip Merrill Environmental Center by Patricia Mills 6 Herndon Avenue Waterman’s Boy by Susan Sharpe Annapolis, MD 21403 ATTN: Student Bay Savers The Secret of Heron Creek by Margaret Meacham Or visit the Student Bay Savers web- Awesome Chesapeake: A Kid’s Guide site at www.bayschools.org/students to the Bay by David Owen Bell Waterman’s Child by Barbara Mitchell Chesapeake Bay Walk by David Owen Bell Bet You Didn’t

Know.... Somebody, sometime had to be the first person to eat an oyster. Would you have been brave enough? Exploration 10 Exploration CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM 52 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE 2500 BC 1800s 1760s Early 1882 1881 1871 1865 1852 1850 1849 1705 1609 1607 Starving colonists from JamestownStarving IndiansvalueVirginia oysters highly Captain Smith notes John that the to Bay theChesapeake oysters seasonalvisits during Native harvest Americans depletion ofthe oyster beds Biologist W. K. the Brooks predicts watermen andtheirfamilies 10,000 nowoyster supports industry alonethe In thestate ofMaryland of theChesapeake theoyster seenworking be can bars The sailsofathousanddredgeboats all watermen are ex-slaves of legalslavery. theyearWithin 40%of The Civil War endsandwithitallforms westward mailisdelayed bound Cincinnati are sofullofoysters between Cumberland and mail Stagecoaches carrying reaches River theOhio The Baltimore Railroad andOhio the California Rush Gold Baltimore oysters canned to carry Ships sailingaround Cape Horn waters from New England Dredge introduced to Chesapeake seafood businessat Mount Vernon George Washington operates athriving Europe. and sendthemacross theocean to elaborate oysters schemeto pickle Francis creates Makemie an hardship food oysters” whichthey consider a are “reduced to eating Chesapeake Date -Historic Sheet Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C 1980s 1992 1988 1972 1965 1957 1945 1910 1886 formed to try to restoreformed to try oysters is Roundtable Oyster The Maryland 1910, isputupfor sale thewatershad worked since The oysters killing begins The diseaseDermo on theBay’s watershed immense quantities ofrain AgnesHurricane dumps Chesapeake’s totalcatch fish nowOysters comprise only10%ofthe intheChesapeake appears The oyster diseaseMSXfirst killing becomes widespread The fertilizers useofchemical week forevery points west with oysters leave St. Michaels Two orthree railroad loaded cars Chesapeake’s oyster industry in America’s fisheries inthe work employed20% ofallthepeople E.C. Collier , that askipjack It’s About Time 53

Exploration 10 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE 1865 1863 1836 1820 1811 oyster dredging bansall The State ofMaryland oyster dredging The State of bansall Virginia waters, butonlyby sail-powered vessels once oyster againpermit dredging inits legislature decidesto The Maryland freeing theslaves the Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln issues require registered being avesselcaptain large enough to illegal for any African to American it passesalaw making Maryland

Date -Legal Sheet

the size of an oyster. an of size the An oysterman uses a culling tool to measure measure to tool culling a uses oysterman An Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C 1941 1941 1890 1868 1983 enters World War II ofwar astheUnited Statesarticles President Franklin Roosevelt signs Crisfield,Maryland unionisformedworkers in The Chesapeake’s firstseafood which they were taken oysters are returned to from thebeds the Bay andrequiring that undersized minimum size for oysters from taken The cull law is passed, setting a 2.5 inch Navy establishestheOyster Maryland and managesthecleanupofBay thatgovernment directs partnership is signed, establishingavoluntary TheBay first Chesapeake Agreement It’s About Time 54

Exploration 10 OYSTERING ON THE CHESAPEAKE 1910 1904 1897 1889 1884 1874 1869 1865 1857 1856 1851 1839 Year Date -Harvests Sheet 3,500,000 4,500,000 7,254,000 9,945,000 15,000,000 14,000,000 9,233,000 4,879,000 3,500,000 2,610,000 1,350,000 710,000 Bushels Y MARITIME MUSEUM U E S U M E M I T I R A M AY B E K A E P A S E H C 1963 1960 1955 1954 1950 1945 1940 1935 1930 1929 Year 18,274,300 27,110,100 39,227,500 41,587,800 29,953,500 32,569,900 37,457,100 35,786,100 36,723,846 34,510,416 Pounds 2000 1995 1993 1990 1985 1984 1980 1975 1970 1965 Year 2,531,302 1,595,979 571,393 4,515,113 13,121,518 12,364,000 22,791,100 22,639,500 24,668,500 21,188,500 Pounds It’s About Time 55

Exploration 10 Additional Classroom Resources Larry S. Chowning, Harvesting the Chesapeake; Tools and Traditions (Centreville, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1990) On the Internet: Ann E. Dobin, Saving the Bay: People Working for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Future of the Chesapeake (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins www.cbmm.org University Press, 2001) Curriculum Guide for Chesapeake Bay through Robert A. Hedeen, The Oyster: The Life and Lore of Ebony Eyes www.dnr.state.md.us/irc/boc.html the Celebrated Bivalve (Centreville, MD: Tidewater Chesapeake Bay Foundation Publishers, 1986) www.cbf.org Tom Horton, An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Bay Trippers Island (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1996) www.mpt.org/learningworks/baytrippers/index.html Randall S. Peffer, Watermen (Baltimore: Johns Oyster Recovery Partnership Hopkins University Press, 1979) www.oysterrecovery.org Pat Vojtech, Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks (Centreville: Maryland Watermen’s Association Tidewater Press, 1997) www.marylandwatermen.com John R. Wennersten, The Chesapeake: An The Chesapeake Bay Program Environmental Biography www.chesapeakebay.net (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2001) Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Committee, Inc. www.skipjack.net/le_shore/heritage/ For Students: Maryland Marine Notes David Owen Bell, Awesome Chesapeake: A Kid’s www.mdsg.umd.edu/MarineNotes/ Guide to the Bay (Centreville, MD: Tidewater Maryland Sea Grant Publishers, 1994) www.mdsg.umd.edu David Owen Bell, Chesapeake Bay Walk (Centreville, The Watermens’ Museum, Yorktown, Virginia MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1998) www.sightsmag.com/usa/va/york/sights/wmm/ Patricia Mills, On an Island in the Bay (New York: wmm.htm North South Books, 1994) Horn Point Lab Hatchery Site Margaret Meacham, Oyster Moon (Centreville, MD: www.hpl.umces.edu/facilities/oysters.html Tidewater Publishers, 1996) The Paynter Lab Margaret Meacham The Secret of Heron Creek www.life.umd.edu/biology/paytnerlab/ (Centreville, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1991) PaytnerHomepage.html Susan Sharpe, Waterman’s Boy (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990) Video: Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Common Ground Possible Guest Speakers: Maryland Sea Grant, From the Bottom Up: Restoring Chesapeake Bay Foundation Speakers’ Bureau Oyster Reefs in Chesapeake Bay, 2001 410-268-8816 Crisfield and Smith Island Cultural Alliance, Inc., Oyster Recovery Partnership 410-990-4970 Smith Island: Land & Water, People & Time The Chesapeake Bay Program www. chesapeakebay.net/involved.htm Books and Other Publications: Nanticoke Watershed Alliance William R. Brooks, The Oyster (Baltimore: Johns www.nanticokeriver.org Hopkins University Press, 1996) Maryland Humanities Council www.mdhc.org/

56 Illustration Credits Exploration 6 “The Pirates Attacking the Police Schooner Julia Hamilton”—Harper’s Weekly, March 1, 1884 Cover Map of tonging and dredging grounds— Forest Wells, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum redrawn from Plate LVI of the Bulletin of the US Fish (CBMM), St. Michaels, MD Commission, Vol XII for 1892, GPO 1894. “Pirates Dredging at Night”—Harper’s Weekly, Exploration 1 March 1, 1884 “Maryland.-The Oyster War-A State Police Steamer E.C. Collier—Fred Thomas, CBMM Overhauling A Pirate Boat On Chesapeake Bay, Wilson “Turk” Cannon—Lila Line, CBMM Off Swan’s Point”—Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly, Jib man—Robert de Gast, CBMM January 7, 1888 Aerial of dredgeboats—H. Robins Hollyday, courtesy “Shot Down on the Deck”—Democrat and News, of the Historical Society of Talbot County, Easton, Cambridge, MD, February 25, 1888, p. 3 A, courtesy Maryland of the Cambridge Historical Society, Cambridge, MD Cleaning up dredgeboat; Aerial of skipjack; Men in galley; Men culling—Robert de Gast, CBMM Exploration 7 Crew bringing dredge aboard—Forest Wells, CBMM Valliant’s Delight brand oysters label—William H. Valliant & Co. Manuscript Collection, CBMM Exploration 3 The Lieb Packing Co. Sun Brand raw oysters billhead; J.D. Groves & Co. billhead—CBMM Tallying oysters at McNasby Oyster Co.; Man in bunk —Robert de Gast, CBMM Tilghman oyster can, CBMM—photograph courtesy of David Harp Men watching dredge come aboard—Pauline Larrimore Cummings Collection, CBMM All other oyster cans, CBMM Peterson’s Famous Seafood poster—CBMM Exploration 4 Joe Buck—Patuxent River Folklife Project, courtesy Exploration 9 of the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, Maryland Woodburn oyster house—courtesy of the Calvert Capt. John Larrimore—William J. Hingst, CBMM Marine Museum, Solomons, MD Samuel E. Turner Sr.—William Kepner, CBMM Workers on Annie Bennett, c. 1898—Marion Brewington, courtesy of the Calvert Marine William Jones—Laura Vlahovich, CBMM Museum, Solomons, MD

Exploration 5 Exploration 10 Women shucking—Robert de Gast, CBMM Tonger on the Miles River—H. Robins Hollyday, Conroy Butler; Bertha Curtis; Ruth Mackall Smith; courtesy of the Historical Society of Talbot County, Joe Buck—Patuxent River Folklife Project, courtesy Easton, MD of the Calvert Marine Museum Men shucking—Robert de Gast, CBMM

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