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Oct. 12, 2019
John Egerton Prize at the Southern Festival of Books, Nashville
Oct. 24-26, 2019
2019 SFA Fall Symposium, Oxford ⟶
Dec. 9, 2019
SFA Celebrates Jenni Harris, Atlanta History Center
March 28, 2020
2020 SFA Spring Symposium, Birmingham
Oct. 8-10, 2020
2020 SFA Fall Symposium, Oxford
Support
the SFA
Support
the SFA
Oct. 12, 2019
John Egerton Prize at the Southern Festival of Books, Nashville
Oct. 24-26, 2019
2019 SFA Fall Symposium, Oxford ⟶
Dec. 9, 2019
SFA Celebrates Jenni Harris, Atlanta History Center
March 28, 2020
2020 SFA Spring Symposium, Birmingham
Oct. 8-10, 2020
2020 SFA Fall Symposium, Oxford

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region.

< Back to Oral History project: Tidewater Foodways

ORAL HISTORY

Ashley Atkins Spivey

Ashley Atkins Spivey was born in 1984 in Richmond, Virginia. She is a member of the Pamunkey Indian Nation. As a child, her gradfather taught her about indigenous cuisine through gardening, fishing, foraging, trapping, and hunting. Her grandfather also taught her about native plants and took her to watch spring shad spawn runs. Shad frys were cornerstones of her community. Those events celebrated the accomplishments of the Pamunkey shad hatchery and its fishermen. Spivey’s childhood, steeped in Pamunkey foodways, prepared her for a career serving the Pamunkey Nation. Spivey received her doctorate in anthropology from the College of William and Mary in 2017. She lives on the reservation and serves as the director of the Pamunkey Indian Tribal Resource Center in King William County, Virginia.

Date of interview:
2018-05-22

Interviewer:
Jessica Taylor

Photographer:
Beth Wood

Download Transcript

“

“The shad is so integral to who we are. To think that people aren't going to be eating it anymore or netting for it anymore is just kind of unfathomable. But I think every generation deals with this. So, hopefully, I can help.”

Other Project Interviews

Interview

William Barnhardt

William Barnhardt owns and manages Willaby’s in White Stone, Virginia.

Interview

William “Tootsie” Harwood

William “Tootsie” Harwood farms and raises livestock in Gloucester County, Virginia.

Interview

Susan Hill

Susan Hill owns and manages Car Wash Cafe in Kilmarnock, Virginia.

Interview

Susan “Sudy” McKnight

Sudy McKnight recounts her childhood spent at her grandfather’s general store in Mobjack Bay, Virginia.

Interview

Richard Carr

Richard Carr cooks at Berret’s Seafood Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia

Interview

Kevin Godsey

Kevin Godsey crabs, oysters, and fishes in Mathews County, Virginia.

Interview

Charles and Mary Alice Woerner

Charles and Mary Alice Woerner volunteer at the Church of St. Therese in Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia.

Interview

Abigail Fine

Abigail Fine worked as a historical interpreter in the kitchens of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia.

WORKING TOGETHER

WE CAN CULTIVATE PROGRESS.

The Southern Foodways Alliance drives a more progressive future by leading conversations that challenge existing constructs, shape perspectives, and foster meaningful discussions. We reconsider the past with research, scrutiny, and documentation.

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