"Growing Up on the Shellpile" is an illustrated digital children’s book that captures the wonder of childhood in a once-thriving Delaware Bay oyster industry community that has since disappeared.
Inhabited by oyster shuckers from Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region, Shellpile was a close-knit village of homes, churches, stores, and a school along the Maurice River. Though work and living conditions were often difficult, children experienced Shellpile as a place of adventure, freedom, family, and joy.Â
Inspired by interviews from the documentary On the Shellpile and from our dialogue sessions, the book shares memories of childhood in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Short clips from the original interviews appear in the credits. Â
