Memories of a Tobacco Farm
Clip: Season 9 Episode 906 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Cecil Taylor shares his family history of tobacco farming.
Cecil Shell, a Black farmer in Southern Virginia, shares his family history of tobacco farming and remembers traditional techniques from his childhood.
Support for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.
Memories of a Tobacco Farm
Clip: Season 9 Episode 906 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Cecil Shell, a Black farmer in Southern Virginia, shares his family history of tobacco farming and remembers traditional techniques from his childhood.
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[birds singing] [car faintly whizzing] - [Shell] When I was growing up, all of the work that was done on the farm, we had mules and horses.
[door clacking] [keys jingling] [door squeaking] I think my dad was probably the first that was into farming.
My granddad, he worked, I think, at a place where they had mules and horses and whatnot, and I think he took care of them.
When I was about five or six years old, I can remember following my mom and sisters to where they were tying tobacco.
[birds singing] [tobacco rustling] [bright music] The photo was taken at our home farm.
My dad and granddad, Thomas Shell and Waverley Shell.
And they're standing in the front of one of the old barns where he flue-cured tobacco in, and actually, they're holding a stick of tobacco and a bundle of tobacco that has been cured.
So I sort of take my hat off to the older generation.
[ambient music]
Video has Closed Captions
A Black farmer in Virginia wrestles with tradition and the changing needs of the economy. (14s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.