Oral Histories
Stories are the lifeblood of culture. In Guinea, Virginia, storytelling is a key trait of its people and it’s how the heritage of the watermen’s life is passed down from generation to generation. In this online exhibit, you have an opportunity to listen to story excerpts that tell the tales of daily Guinea commerce, life on the water, and the vagaries of the seafood industry. For each theme, you can select and listen to a short excerpt from a longer interview. A transcript is provided to assist while you listen to the authentic and unique Guinea dialect. When you are done, take a moment to play the online game or print out the bookmarks to color. Are you in the museum? Ask for the Buck’s Store visual scavenger hunt. Seek out the objects and check them off your list…
…an old fashioned telephone comes to mind! Ring, ring!
The General Store
From the Interview with Hamilton Williams
How did Buck’s Store come to be? Click below to listen and find out!
From the Interview with Lionel Jenkins
A bologna row at the General Store! How many times do I have to tell you… listen to the story.
Full Interview Audio
From the Interview with Tommy Shackelford
Long days at Buck’s. The operating hours accommodated the watermen’s early schedules.
Life on the Water
From the Interview with William Jennings Hogge
An ice storm off of Cape Henry. How did the fishermen get home? Click below to hear more.
Full Interview Audio
From the Interview with William Jennings Hogge
Pound netting to catch fish. What’s that? Listen to find out.
Full Interview Audio
From the Interview with William Jennings Hogge
When do fishermen shuck a scallop? Listen to this short clip to learn!
Full Interview Audio
Guinea Commerce
From the Interview with Thomas Brown, Sr.
A story about the invention of the crab pot from a lifetime crabber.
Full Interview Audio
From the Interview with Thomas Brown, Sr.
Slack water? What’s that? Click and listen to find out.
Full Interview Audio
From the Interview with William Jennings Hogge
Goodness! How much can you get for a scallop catch?
Full Interview Audio
Learn and Interact
The Right Tools for the Job
What have you learned about the tools the watermen used to harvest seafood? Click the link to play an interactive game, matching the tools to their purpose. Use the word bank to match what you hear with the name of a tool.
I Spy at Buck’s Store
Look here. Look there. Use this list to locate objects around the museum. Check off each one as you find them and have fun!
Bucks Sign Bookmark
C.B. Rowe & Son general store opened in 1920 and continued operation until 2005—85 years! As a general store, it provided the Guinea community with the necessities of life and the necessities for making a living on the water. Print out the C.B. Rowe bookmark and have fun coloring it. Leave the back blank or write your reactions to a visit to Buck’s Store Museum.
The World is Your Oyster Bookmark
The world is your oyster! Oyster canneries thrived in Guinea in the 20th century. Print out “The World is Your Oyster” bookmark and have fun coloring the oyster cans and shell.
Learn more about oral histories with Old Dominion University’s “Tidewater Voices“
Acknowledgments: This online exhibit has been developed by interns with the Captain’s SHIP Program at Christopher Newport University in May 2021. Montana Coward reviewed, selected, and formatted the audio excerpts and accompanying transcripts; Jamie Eagle developed the online and museum-based educational activities; Sophia Johnston developed the interactive webpage and integrated it with the Guinea Heritage website. Buck’s Store Museum extends our gratitude and appreciation to the interns and to CNU for devoting their time and talents to this project.
