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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.

ORAL HISTORY

Charles and Mary Alice Woerner

Charles Woerner, born in 1937, and his wife, Mary Alice, born in 1936, are natives of Tidewater Virginia. They met while working for NASA at Langley Air Force Base. Charles worked as an engineer. Mary Alice worked as a mathematician. After retiring from NASA, the Woerners settled in Gloucester County, Virginia. They are parishioners of the Church of St. Therese and volunteer their time and skills for large-scale meals and fundraisers. Charles Woerner wrote a cookbook, Cooking for 100. They are known for their crab cakes, pig roasts, and Mardi Gras dinners. Their meals raise funds for the Bread for Life food bank, an interfaith effort that serves four hundred families at multiple churches throughout the Tidewater.

Date of interview:
2018-05-20

Interviewer:
Jessica Taylor

Photographer:
Beth Wood

Download Transcript

“

“Aunt Eva loved to cook, and her cakes were known, I mean, all over. And people would call her and ask her to bake cakes, and they would buy 'em, you know. It would go to a charity, it always went to her church. And so, that's where I learned.” - Mary Alice Woerner

“One day, from the altar during mass, [the priest] looked at Mary Alice and I and he said, ‘I don't usually compliment people,’ he said, ‘Charlie, that potato salad was the absolute best potato salad I've ever eaten in my life.’” – Charles Woerner

Other Project Interviews

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William Barnhardt

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

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William “Tootsie” Harwood

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

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Susan Hill

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

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Susan “Sudy” McKnight

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

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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.

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Ashley Spivey

Ashley Spivey directs the Pamunkey Indian Tribal Resource Center in King William County, Virginia.

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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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