Susan “Sudy” McKnight – Southern Foodways Alliance arrow left envelope headphones search facebook instagram twitter flickr menu rss play circle itunes calendar
March 28, 2020
2020 SFA Spring Symposium, Birmingham ⟶
Oct. 8-10, 2020
2020 SFA Fall Symposium, Oxford
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the SFA
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

Susan "Sudy" McKnight

Susan “Sudy” McKnight was born in 1948 into a military family in Pensacola, Florida. She considers Mobjack on the eastern tip of Mathews County, Virginia, her home. Though her family lived all across the country, McKnight spent childhood summers with her grandparents in Mathews County, Virginia. McKnight’s grandfather ran a general store in Mobjack. It was a source for fresh meat, medicines, and baked goods. It was also a gathering place. McKnight spent time in the store with her grandfather, waiting on customers and getting to know the community. When she was thirteen, McKnight crabbed for a summer in a wooden skiff off the coast of Mathews. She was the youngest person and the only woman crabbing on Mobjack Bay. McKnight married a Navy serviceman and traveled the world. McKnight now lives in Mathews County, Virginia.

Date of interview:
2018-05-21

Interviewer:
Jessica Taylor and Patrick Daglaris

Photographer:
Beth Wood

Download Transcript

“

“My brother or I would sleep in by mistake because we always wanted to go with [our grandfather]. . . We’d be sitting by his potbelly stove in the house, because that’s how they heated the house, and put on your clothes and then go down to the store. And he would [do] whatever he had to do there and then get in the boat and go fishing. And that was more fun because he’d catch breakfast.”

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Abigail Fine

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

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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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