CBMM expands “A Rising Tide in the Heart of the Chesapeake” exhibit
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The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels has expanded its “A Rising Tide in the Heart of the Chesapeake” exhibit, now on display in the Museum's Steamboat Gallery. The special exhibit runs through 2012, and examines changing forces in the Chesapeake's low-lying island communities through photos, videos, and stories.
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Photographs by David Harp and text by environmental writer Tom Horton combine to explore the cultural and environmental changes of the Chesapeake. New to the 2011 exhibit are stories of the Smith Island Crabmeat Cooperative, a business enterprise of watermen's wives who pick and sell meat from the crabs caught by their families. Another addition is the story of a father-son crab potting team, Harvey and Brian Corbin, whose livelihoods have been impacted by new crab harvesting limits.
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The entire exhibit showcases stories of people from three islands––Hoopers, Smith, and Holland––and focuses on the loss or threatened loss of their cultures. The threats are multiple: erosion, flooding, and the temptation of a more promising life ashore to children of families that grew up in these tightly-knit communities.
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The exhibit is open during regular Museum hours and is free for Museum members or with admission. For more information, visit the Museum in St. Michaels, or on the web at cbmm.org.
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