Sights & SoundsD. Brad Hatch, David Onks IV and Reagan Andersen
Four years ago, Dr. D. Brad Hatch was one of just two members of the Patawomeck Indian tribe who knew how to weave an eel pot. Now Brad is teaching fellow tribal members David Onks IV and Reagan Andersen how to make eel pots as part of the Virginia Folklife Program’s 2022-23 Apprenticeship Program cohort.
Sights & SoundsGrayson Chesser and P.G. Ross, Mark Ross, Drew Sturgis, and Andy Dunton
The Eastern Shore of Virginia, a narrow peninsula stretching roughly seventy-five miles between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, has long nourished the artistry of waterfowl decoy carving. The …
Sights & SoundsLive in Concert: 2014 Highlights
As we approach the end of the Virginia Folklife Program’s 25th year, we take great joy in looking back at some of the year’s highlights. Largely through the addition of …
Sights & SoundsRichmond Folk Festival: Tenth Year Rocks Again
More than 150,000 people joined the Virginia Folklife Program on the banks of the James River from October 10-12 for the tenth annual Richmond Folk Festival. This year’s festival provided …
Sights & SoundsDudley Biddlecomb and Peter Hedlund
Because of the Chesapeake Bay’s ideal brackish waters, its oyster population was once one of the most plentiful in the nation, and oyster harvesting was long a booming industry throughout …
Sights & SoundsNorthern Neck Chantey Singers and Lewis R. Blackwell Jr.
Menhaden fishing has been a significant economic engine on Virginia’s Northern Neck since shortly after the Civil War. Menhaden are bony, oily fish in the herring family. Unfit for human …
Sights & SoundsDeborah Pratt and Teddy Bagby
For communities on Virginia’s Northern Neck, the oyster fishery was perhaps the largest and most influential industry from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Men and women employed by the industry …
Sights & SoundsGeorge Butler and Warner Rice
The story of Reedville, Virginia, is linked to the commercial fishing industry that developed late in the nineteenth century. From this tiny fisherman’s town located between the Potomac and Rappahannock …
Sights & SoundsGrayson Chesser and Robie Marsh, Jr.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia, a narrow peninsula stretching roughly seventy-five miles between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, has long been a veritable hotbed of decoy-carving masters. The …
