Albertha “Bertha” Lucas Tattnall and Edward “Bones” Tattnall/Henrietta Farabee

Albertha “Bertha” Lucas Tattnall and Edward “Bones” Tattnall/Henrietta Farabee. . , Albertha “Bertha” Lucas Tattnall and Edward “Bones” Tattnall , Fishing Industry Workers, mid-1900s , Edward Tattnall was born in the 1890s on Wilmington Island, Georgia. As an adult he lived on Tybee Island with his wife Alberta "Bertha" Lucas Tattnall. Before their marriage, Bertha worked as a laborer at an oyster factory and resided in Savannah. Once married, the Tattnall's operated a fish camp, on Chatham Avenue in the vicinity of present-day AJ's Grill. From the fish camp, "Eddie Bones" rented bateaux (light weight flat bottom riverboats that were popular with locals) for a dollar a day. Bertha assisted in operating the camp and peeled shrimp, packed crabs, cleaned fish, cooked stew and made she-crab gumbo. She also sold sodas to bateaux renters. Because of health challenges, Bertha, although younger than her husband, in 1988 predeceased her husband by several years., Henrietta Farabee , Domestic Worker, 1920s-1970s , Affectionately known as "Henry," Henrietta Farabee was one of many women who worked as a domestic worker on Tybee Island. She was employed by the Bremer family as a nanny and went wherever the Bremer children went, coming to Tybee with the family for the summer. Henrietta, like many Black women in domestic service on Tybee, was considered by the Bremer children a member of the family. With limited options for employment, domestic work provided her with the means to care for her own family. This was the reality for many Black women in and around Savannah who worked long hours at low wages., It is impossible to name every Black woman who labored as a domestic on Tybee between the early resort era and the 1970s. Some summer households, like the Bremer family, employed several individuals. Wealthier non-permanent residents with summer homes frequently utilized working class people in domestic service. Locals recall that in preparation for the vacation season, domestic workers would take the bus to Tybee to open summer cottages and prepare for the summer population "swell." Popular hotels advertised rates for nannies. For example, a Hotel Tybee ad lists a flat rate of $15.00 per week for nannies to stay at the Hotel. Although the larger portion of workers were directly from Savannah, many of them, whether domestics or working in the hotel and tourist trade, came from Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. Henrietta was from Switzerland, South Carolina and, like a majority of domestic service workers on Tybee, was part of the Gullah Geechee communities of South Carolina and Georgia. , , (captions) , Edward Tattnall at the Fish Camp on Chatham Avenue, Age 54 years. , Photo courtesy of Sonny Seiler. , Henrietta Farabee is pictured at left. Photo courtesy of Bremer family.