'Conversations with the Past'

Copies of the great swamper newspapers on a desk

Voices of Shady Side

Funding Provided by Four Rivers Heritage Area and a Bequest from the Estate of Georgia Dent DiPietro.

"Captain Bill" (pictured above) wrote and published the newspaper, The Great Swamper.

Read the transcripts of our collected interviews with people who lived in Shady Side in the 1900s.

Funding Provided by Four Rivers Heritage Area and a Bequest from the Estate of Georgia Dent DiPietro.

This project was begun

by the Captain Avery Museum in the Fall of 2014.

"Our Place" - The Fishing Club

Funding Provided by Four Rivers Heritage Area and a Bequest from the Estate of Georgia Dent DiPietro.

"Our Place" - The Fishing Club

For 60 years, members of the Samuel Gompers Lodge of the Masons created a relaxed getaway here at the house to enjoy the shore.

Read the transcripts of our collected interviews.

'Conversations with the Past' - A Collection of Images and Interviews

"Conversations with the Past" is an oral history digitization project undertaken by the Captain Avery Museum begun in Fall 2014. Funding was provided by a grant from the Four Rivers Heritage Area and

by a Bequest from the Estate of Georgia Dent DiPietro.

The purpose of this site is to provide discovery and access to oral history transcripts and images that capture the early and current life of people in the Shady Side Community.

The Captain Avery Museum's Miss Ethel Memorial Library has a collection of more than 150 oral histories in various formats, as well as a collection of printed materials, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to Shady Side, Maryland, its surrounding communities, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Click the button below to enter.

Conversations with the past