60. FIRSTS: First Oyster Bar in Providence

Weird Island

Long before the quahog became Rhode Island’s iconic shellfish, oysters dominated local waters. In this episode, I’ll be diving into the stories of black innovators and entrepreneurs who shaped the oyster industry–including Manna Bernoon, who established Providence’s first Oyster and Ale House in 1736, the year of his emancipation from slavery.

Episode Source Material:

• Early Rhode Island: A Social History of the People | 1910
• Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum Celebrates African-American Food | Cranston, RI Patch
• Providence Waterways: StoryMap
• A noble tradition - The Bay State Banner
• The Truth about Baked Beans: An Edible History of New England
• ON THE RHODE TO FREEDOM | stagesoffreedom
• Gabriel Bernon | Goodwin-Genealogy Wikia
• Rhode Island's Shellfish Heritage: An Ecological History
• Going Deep Into Oyster Country - The New York Times
• History on the Half-Shell: The Story of New York City and Its Oysters
• The History of Oysters: Its Rise as a Delicacy and a Staple Food Beloved by Many
• A 19th Century Black Success Story: The Downing Family | HistoryNet
• Ancient Australians and Americans Ate Billions of Oysters Over Millennia
• Oyster Archaeology: Ancient Trash Holds Clues To Sustainable Harvesting : The Salt : NPR
• How Oysters Became a Source of Economic Freedom for Emancipated Black Folks - Earth in Color
• oyster cellars | Restaurant-ing through history.
• Oyster bar - Wikipedia
• CITY LORE; When the Oyster Was Their World - The New York Times
• Thomas Downing (restaurateur) - Wikipedia
• How a child of Virginia slaves became the oyster king of New York — and a favorite of the Queen of England – The Virginian-Pilot
• George Thomas Downing (1819 - 1903) — BLACK and Education
• George T. Downing - The Fight for Black Mobility: Traveling to Mid-Century Conventions
• On Staten Island, one of NYC's oldest African American enclaves is preserved - Curbed NY
• Rossville, Staten Island - Wikipedia
• Finding Freedom Through Oysters in 19th Century New York (Part Two) | Department of History | NC State University
• Ep 18 – Sandy Ground – The African American Oyster Community – City Between
• Native American Secrets Lie Buried in Huge Shell Mounds - The New York Times
• The Voluminous Shell Heaps Hidden in Plain Sight All Over NYC - Gastro Obscura