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Kent County (Del.) Archives | Secrets of the Eastern Shore

CharactersDelmarva WisdomHome Page FeatureWay Back Machine

Character of the Day: The Delaware Housewife Who Invented the Modern Chicken Industry

As a deeply religious young woman, Cecile Long Steele probably didn’t let loose with a string of curse words when the delivery truck driver showed up at her farm that day in 1923. Cecile had ordered 50 baby chicks, but the deliveryman had 500 chicks instead. This being 1923, Cecile couldn’t call or text customer service to sort out this mix-up on the spot. The…
May 28, 2020
CharactersDelmarva WisdomWay Back Machine

Inspiring Journey: “Black Harry” Hosier’s Climb from Slavery and Illiteracy to America’s “Greatest Orator”

We are all born with gifts. We all strive in our own way to nurture and share those gifts. Harry Hosier faced longer odds than any of us in this regard. He was born into slavery. He was illiterate. But he managed nonetheless to carve a path through life that saw him seize every opportunity to put his God-given gifts—a prodigious memory and a flair…
March 23, 2020
The Newsroom

Jim Duffy Will Be Telling Fun “Tales from Delmarva” on Fri., Nov. 8 in Milford, Del.

Click the image to check out the book! Author and storyteller Jim Duffy of Secrets of the Eastern Shore will share some of his favorite "Tales from Delmarva" in a talk and discussion for the monthly 2nd Friday event at the First Presbyterian Church in Milford, Del. at 7pm on Nov. 8. Duffy is the author of two collections of Eastern Shore Road Trips, as…
October 22, 2019
Event of the MonthGood Times & Fun Events

Event of the Month, May 2019: Bug & Bud Festival

The back story on the Bug & Bud Festival is pretty darn cute. Back in the 1970s, local second graders in Miss Molly Brown Rust’s classroom at LuLu Ross Elementary School petitioned the state legislature to declare the six-legged Coccinellidae to be the official insect of Delaware. The success of that drive is the reason so many people in Milford (and their dogs) don ladybug…
April 28, 2019
Tubman Travels

TUBMAN TRAVELS: How the Other ‘Moses’ Kept the Dogs of Slavery at Bay

The story of Moses Viney that follows is excerpted from Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva, a book by Secrets of the Eastern Shore that tells stories of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and many other men and women whose journeys in slavery and out of bondage went through the Eastern Shore and Delaware. Moses Viney had a pretty fun go of it for…
March 27, 2018
Destinations

Spence’s Bazaar: Visiting a Delaware Classic

    Delmarva traditions can be funny things sometimes. Take Spence’s Bazaar in Dover, for example. When I approached the sprawling old marketplace for the first time recently, it had the look of a joint that hadn’t changed one iota since the day it opened eightysome ago. The flea market outside was old school, with table upon table upon table set under sweet shade trees.…
October 10, 2017
Way Back Machine

DELMARVA CLASSIC: The Sweet Strawberry Boom of Days Gone By

The story behind the variety of strawberry we enjoy nowadays is a global affair that stretches across two centuries and three continents. Way back in the 1500s, some French explorer noticed that the wild strawberries of Virginia had bigger fruits and brighter color than their European counterparts. He brought some back to Europe and farmers started playing around with them. But it wasn’t until two…
May 16, 2017
Tubman TravelsWay Back Machine

“TUBMAN TRAVELS” SAMPLER: The Miraculous Escape of the Dover Eight

The story of the Dover Eight that follows is excerpted from Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva, a book by Secrets of the Eastern Shore that tells stories of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and many other men and women whose journeys in slavery and out of bondage went through the Eastern Shore and Delaware. BIG PICTURE: The Pressure Cooker of 1857 The lush…
March 1, 2017
CharactersWay Back Machine

Harrington Character of the Day: The Master Whittler of Delaware

This piece about Jehu Camper, the master whittler of Delaware, is a free excerpt from Eastern Shore Road Trips: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. t's from a Road Trip that visits a trio of interesting little museums in Dover, including one that features works by Mr. Camper. Here goes: Over the course of a long life stretching across 91 years, Jehu Camper jumped from this to…
December 5, 2016