Date: Thursday, February 9, 2023
Location: Zoom Virtual Lecture 
Time: 7pm - 8:30pm

• It has been over 150 years since the establishment of Maryland’s “Oyster Navy,” a forerunner of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police. It was a necessary establishment for dealing with a lucrative, competitive, and sometimes deadly industry.

  In the early-19th century, Maryland and Virginia began passing a series of laws to regulate and limit oyster catching. Anyone who violated these oyster laws became known in the press and by the public as “oyster pirates.” Many dared to thwart the government’s attempts, like the women of the Dancing Molly, the crew of the Palo Alto, and the notorious Cannon Family led by patriarch H.P. “Pirate Chief” Cannon.

  The Oyster Wars took a final deadly turn in April 1959 with the murder of Berkeley Muse, a well-respected community leader in Colonial Beach, Virginia (located on the border of Southern Maryland).

Presenter:  Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall | Historian & Author 

Registration Required.

• Upon registration, you will receive two emails: one confirmation email with your receipt and the link to join the Zoom lecture and one e-ticket email.

Cost: $10 General Admission; FREE for AMM Members First Mate and above ($150).

This lecture will be offered virtually by Zoom, an online video conferencing platform. Upon registration, you will be sent the link for the video conference to join on the evening of the lecture. If you do not receive your confirmation email after you register, please check your Spam folder, or email Lizzie Spokely at lspokely@amaritime.org. To learn more about Zoom and to download the app to your computer, visit the Zoom website. 

About the Presenter: Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall is a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History.* She has a PhD in History from The Ohio State University with specializations in Atlantic World, Early American, and Military histories. She is also a first-generation college student. Her publications include a National Geographic bookazine on global piracy, Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars, and Pirate and Privateers from Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay. She lives in Northern Virginia with her spouse and two Boxer pups, Thomas Jefferson (TJ) and John Tyler (JT).

*The views expressed here are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the values or beliefs of the U.S. Army/TRADOC, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Army Center of Military History.