About Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City
Presented by: Tyrone Marshall, Professor of Theatre Arts,
Linfield College and Brenda DeVore Marshall, Professor of Theatre &
Communication Arts, Linfield College
Co-sponsored by: Linfield College
Pacific City is home to one of the most unusual
fishing fleets in the world. Fishermen and women have launched dories
(flat-bottomed boats) through the surf at Cape Kiwanda since the early 1900s.
Although major commercial fishing from the dories has given way to robust
recreational activity, the dory fishermen and women remain an integral part of
the traditional lore and contemporary life of the community for residents and
tourists alike. In 2011, Linfield students and faculty began documenting the
history of the Pacific City dory fleet to preserve a part of Oregon’s past and
present. The collection of narratives and images tells the story of the fleet
in the words of those who know it best – the anglers and the wives, mothers,
husbands, fathers, fish buyers and boat builders who support them. To date more
than 100 dory fishers have been interviewed This lecture features an overview
of the project, a brief survey of historical highlights, stories of Yamhill
County connections to the dory fleet, as well as panels from a traveling
exhibit and excerpts from the interviews.
About the Speakers:
Tyrone (Ty) Marshall, professor of theatre and resident designer
at Linfield College since 1987, teaches scenic and lighting design, other
technical courses, and stage management. He also creates the scenic and
lighting designs for most of the Theatre Program's productions. He holds an A.A.
degree in Drama from Wharton County Junior College in Texas, a B.A. in Theatre
from North Texas State University, and an M.F.A. in Scenic Design and Technical
Theatre from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale. Ty has created more than
200 scenic and lighting designs for university and professional theatre,
including productions at the Black Hills Playhouse and Artists Repertory
Theatre in Portland. In addition to his design work, since 2011 Ty has been a project
collaborator for Linfield’s Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of
Pacific City project to document the history of the fleet through the
creation of permanent digital archives and other programs. In his spare time,
Ty is an avid photographer.
Professor Brenda DeVore Marshall has been teaching in Linfield
College’s Theatre and Communication Arts Department since 1987. She also serves
as chair of the department. As an undergraduate, she studied theatre and music
at the University of Denver, earning a B.A. degree. At the graduate level she
specialized in speech communication and theatre at North Texas State
University, where she received a master’s degree, and at Southern Illinois
University—Carbondale, where she earned a Ph.D. Brenda teaches courses in human
communication, including women’s political discourse, intercultural and
multicultural communication, rhetorical and communication theory and criticism,
communication in the wine industry, and gender and communication. She also has
been active in faculty governance throughout her career at Linfield. Brenda
serves as the director for Linfield’s Launching through the Surf: The Dory
Fleet of Pacific City project. This on-going oral history undertaking aims
to document the history of the fleet through the creation of a permanent
digital archives and other programs.
Photo credit: “Mike Dixon landing in his dory, the Native Son,”
courtesy of Tyrone Marshall.
