Bald Cypress Books publishes books about the history and folklore of the Delmarva Peninsula.
In 2016, I became interested in a peculiar Delmarva burial custom: The placement of a wooden, shingled roof over a new grave. The unusual grave markers were mentioned in several books written between the 1930s and 1970s, but it was difficult to find more information about them. I began writing an article about the custom, which quickly turned into a paper, which eventually turned into a short book. Due to the obscure subject matter and extremely local focus of the book, I decided to self-publish, and created Bald Cypress Books, named for the grand trees found along the Pocomoke River and Broad Creek drainages. The Roofed Graves of Delmarva was published in February of 2020.
For my next project, I transcribed the text of Military Interference With the Election in Delaware, November 4, 1862, a historically important yet hard-to-find book last published by the Delaware General Assembly in 1863. The new edition was published in November 2020.
Additional publications include reprints of historical texts about Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Patty Cannon, and a collection of articles entitled Peninsula Roots: A Delmarva Miscellany.
Moving forward, I plan to continue to publish both original works and historical reprints relating to the history and folklore of the fascinating, beautiful land known as the Delmarva Peninsula, or the Eastern Shore.
- Chris Slavens
Laurel, Delaware
Photograph courtesy of Russell A. Taylor III.