Phillip Depoy interview with Mary Claire Depoy

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This is the first of a two part interview. Depoy starts by narrating a story about mermaids that she heard from her friend, followed by one about a grandmother who accidentally washed her grandchild in scalding hot water. She then sings two songs that she learned in school about the fast food chain, McDonalds and one about teachers, respectively. Next Depoy explains the rules of a game she played as a child called TV tag in which children call out the name of a television show before they are tagged. She also recounts the rules of a game called Skip Stew and another they played at the corner of a busy street where theyd pretend to faint whenever a car passed. They also pretended to say magic words in front of a witches tree, an old tree in the woods behind her house, and named another tree the fairy tree because they believed it housed fairies. At 10:25, Depoy tells a cautionary tale about bats that bit children not home by 10 pm, and says that they believed water moccasins lived in the grass where they played hide and seek. She then recalls that she and her sisters used a jargon similar to Pig Latin. Next at 16:40, Depoy demonstrates a game she learned in school in which you correlate body parts to a story about a mother looking for her son who has been eaten by a monster. Afterwards, she tells jokes about public toilets in England and a supernatural man on a tractor, and a few more about goats, along with some songs. At 35:20, She then tells a humorous, and racist, story about a gas station attendant who works too much. Depoy then recounts a story at 38:51 about a family in Atlanta, Georgia, who died during the Civil War when Sherman marched through during the Atlanta Campaign. She details the construction and basement of the house behind which the family was buried. At 45:50, Depoy discusses the Girl Scouts and retells a tale about a type of fairy called Brownies, which is also a group name in the scouts. She also discusses her belief in mythical figures like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. At the end of the recording, she describes more games like hopscotch, Mother May I, Simon Says, Rock School, Jacks, Kick the Can, Freeze Tag, and Statue. Mary Claire (1961- ) was born to Barbara Hoey (1929-2004) and Robert Dale Depoy (1926-2015) and had two siblings, Phillip John (1949- ) and Jeannette Block DePoy. She lived in Florida and Georgia, and married Sanford Arnold Mixon. Additional biographical information has not been determined. A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.