C.L Walters was born in Plains, Georgia in 1948. After serving in the Army, Walters graduated from Georgia Tech in 1957. He later returned to Plains, where he bought the family grocery store. In this interview, Walters talks about growing up in…
Louis Boyd interviews Dr. Charles Clement. Clement discusses the background of his family, who settled in Indian territory in Oklahoma before moving west to Moscow, Idaho. He talks about his father's experience in a one-room school house where he…
Claude Williams was born in Tifton, Georgia in 1922. He graduated from North Georgia College in 1942 and from the University of Georgia in 1944. Williams served in the European theater of WWII, after which he obtained a journalism degree from the…
Douglas Embry interviewed by Hal Henderson. Topics include Embry's time as editor of the Georgia Guardsman, Vandiver's accomplishments as adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard (including building armories), Vandiver's work ethic and…
Conulus Scott was born in Madison County, Georgia in 1920. He farmed and worked at a sugar mill before being drafted by the military in 1942. He served in the Medical Corps in Europe during the war. After the war, he became a plumber and continued to…
Curtis Jones grew up in Griffin, Georgia during segregation. As a child, he was one of the first students to integrate into Sacred Heart Elementary and later was one of the first to integrate into Griffin High School. Jones attended West Point…
David Hannon Pierce arrived in Athens, Georgia in 1976 after he left the Air Force. Five years into his stay in Athens, Pierce joined the band Oh-OK as the drummer. He later left the band in 1982 to perform with fellow musician Matthew Sweet. Later,…
Duard Baxter was born in Madison County, Georgia in 1924. After graduating high school, Baxter volunteered for the Marine Corps, serving in the Pacific Theater during WWII under the 6th Marine Division. Upon his return to the United States, Baxter…
Edel Benson was born in 1921 in Athens, Georgia. Benson attended Athens High School and the University of Georgia. He served as a Second Lieutenant over the 48th fighters squadron in WWII. In this interview, Benson talks about his time in Europe and…
Fletcher Thompson was elected as a Republican to the Georgia General Assembly as a state senator in 1964. In 1966, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the two succeeding congresses, but was unsuccessful in a bid for…
George T. Smith joined the U.S. Navy in 1940 and after two years was placed on the Naval Land Force Equipment Depot. He left the military in 1945 and returned home. In 1948, he graduated from the University of Georgia Law School and went into private…
Gregory Jones was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. His first introduction to music was his mother’s records. Growing up and throughout adulthood, Jones left Athens many times before he eventually returned to work on his music. Jones served in the…
Businessman James E. (Jimmy) Stewart, Jr. discusses growing up in South Georgia in the 1930s and 1940s, attending the University of Georgia, serving in the United States Army in Cold War Europe, and running a family-owned, small business in Waycross,…
John Clark was raised in Oglethorpe County in a family of twelve siblings and moved to Athens upon the death of his father in 1965. After completing Burney-Harris High School, he served in the military before returning to Georgia and studying law at…
John Vaughn was born in Rome, Georgia during the 1930s. Vaughn attended Morris Brown College and served in the Korean War as a battalion engineer. Vaughn taught in Summerville, Mississippi and has participated in the civil rights initiatives of…
Johnny Goodrum was born in Griffin-Spalding County in Georgia during the years of segregation. As a child, Goodrum attended multiple schools in the area including Broad Street School, Cabin Creek Elementary and Fairmont High School. Goodrum later…
Larry Caldwell grew up in Springhill, Georgia during the era of segregation. He served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and when he returned, attended Griffin Technical Institute before he attained employment at General Motors. In this…
Leroy H. (Roy) Simkins, Jr. was born in Augusta, Georgia, and grew up in Beech Island, South Carolina. He is a graduate of Richmond Academy in Augusta and Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. After serving two years in the U.S. Army,…
Marion Stroud was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He attended Union Baptist Institute and Athens High and Industrial School before receiving a football scholarship to Allen University. While in college, Stroud served in the U.S. Air Force in…
Interview with Max Cleland, Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration, 1977-1981. Topics include Civil Rights Movement; Russell's faith in American government; Vietnam Conflict, 1961-1975; War injuries.
Joseph Maxwell Cleland first became interested in politics during his Washington Semester Program. In 1965, he was asked by Senator Richard B. Russell to become a congressional intern. Cleland then joined the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam. He was…
Milton Raven was born in Plains, Georgia in 1931 though he grew up in Archery, Georgia as the youngest of five brothers. In this interview, Raven describes his upbringing, college education, work in the Army and his career as a teacher and principal.…
A Conversation with Pete Wheeler is a discussion, with Dr. William Stueck and Dr. James Cobb, of Wheeler's long career as Georgia's Commissioner of Veterans Services. Wheeler discusses his early life, attending Emory at Oxford and the University of…
Phillip Pollock was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1923. Pollock was drafted into the Army in 1943, where he began his infantry combat career in the European Theater of World War II. Upon his return home, Pollock earned both an undergraduate and…
Louis Boyd interviews his friend and neighbor Robert Henry Bohler about his transient childhood growing up in the Great Depression and his experiences at Berry College and at Fort Sill in Oklahoma during World War II. Bohler also talks about meeting…
Tommy Lee Harps grew up on a farm in Griffin, Georgia. As a child, Harps worked at the Georgia Experiment Station along with his father under Dr. H.P. Stuckley, during which he attended Mount Pleasant Church School and later Vocational High School.…
Venus Jarrell was born in Athens in 1946, where he attended West Broad Elementary School, Lyons Junior High, and Athens High and Industrial. He was an active band member in school and, after graduation, continued playing in the band at Mississippi…
Walter Pyron was born in Griffin, Georgia and attended Anna Shockley Elementary during the years of segregation. Pyron additionally worked as the band director for Griffin High School before becoming the assistant principal of Futral Road Elementary…
William S. Harris was born in Tampa, Florida in the late 1930’s and was raised in Americus, Georgia from the age of five. He attended Americus High School and later South Georgia Technical College. He joined the Navy for two years after which he…
