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 part four of a four part recording; this part begins with Sue Bowman and Butler Bowman recalling family stories from 1957 in Paulding County, Georgia. Sue Bowman recalls looking for sticks in a creek to provide support for beans growing in their garden with their daughter. Then at minute 1:05, he tells a short, comical story about his brother painting a spot on their familys mule. Next, at minute 2:00, interviewer Carmen Rakestraw asks the Bowmans to share preacher tales. Sue Bowman responds with a story about a preacher hypnotizing a small congregation with a pocket watch to put their money in the church collection plate. She also tells several jokes, including one in which a preacher teaches a mule to respond to different commands, and another on how to catch a polar bear. They continue to tell jokes and funny stories, and around minute 6:15, Butler Bowman tells a funny story about a Black preacher (who he refers to as a colored preacher) who thinks a woman in a back pew is experiencing the holy ghost but instead was reacting to another member of the congregation passing gas. Some of the jokes are explicit and/or include racist language or implications. For example, Sue Bowman tells a riddle about how to differentiate between a white owl that says who who and a black owl that says who dat. Bowman then shares a joke about how Resacka, Georgia, was named after a woman so ugly that a sack was placed on her head. Darius Bowman, their son, joins the interview to tell a joke about how to prevent chigger bites. Robin Rakestraw, the interviewers brother, also briefly participates. At around minute 10:00, Sue Bowman tells a story about a Black mother applying for welfare with five children, each of whom have a different father, all of whom are reverends. Then she shares a couple crude stores. The first is about an Indigenous man (who she describes as an old Indian) named Big Chief Bowels who was given laxatives to force him off his land, and the second is about aBlack baby covered in hair. Butler Bowman tells a joke about a child misusing profanity, and Sue Bowman shares a story about two Mexicans who hit a chicken, then a man, while driving. To conclude the interview, the Bowmans share several additional jokes with mild profanity.
Vestula Estelle (Brown) Carns (1893-1973) was born in Crossville, Alabama, to Raymond Vestula Estelle Brown (1896-1973) was born in Crossville, Alabama, to Raymond Brown and Ola Thrasher and raised on a farm. In 1909 she married Marvin Jackson Carns (1894-1971), with whom she had several children that she also raised on a farm in Crossville, including Laura Grace Carnes (1928-2006) and Edna Irene Carnes (1913-1989). Laura Grace married J. T. Bowen (1924-1997) and worked at a blue jean factory. She had two daughters, including Linda Gail Rucks (1944-2022), who was also born in Crossville, Alabama, and worked on a farm raising cattle and picking cotton. She later married James Lauvaughn Rucks (1940-2020). Edna Irene Carnes married Butler Shelley Bowman (1906-1985) in 1930 and worked at a clothing factory. Shelly Butler Bowman was born in Paulding County, Georgia, to Benjamin Monroe Bowman (1870-1950) and Lily Ola Bowman (1884-1958). He grew up on a farm and was a folk singer and banjo player. He married twice after Edna Carnes; first to Annie Elizabeth McDaniel (1908-1983), then to Susie Mae Bowman (1930-1999), who was born in 1930 in Buchanan, Georgia. With Shelly Bowman she had four children, including Cheryl Diane (1954- ) and William Darius (1959- ). She worked at Sears on Ponce De Leon Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia. Shelley Bowmans other children include Benjamin Marvin Bowman (1934-2018), who was born in Powder Springs, Georgia, and grew up in Crossville. He served in the United States Air Force and worked at Lance Incorporated in Gadsden, Alabama. Two of Shelley Bowmans grandchildren include Carmen Rakestraw (1950- ) and Robin Conrad Rakestraw (1954- ), both of whom lived in Atlanta, Georgia.
Background Material My first tape was recorded in Crossville, Alabama. Crossville, a small town with small surrounding farms, is located on Sand Mountain, right outside of Collinsville, Alabama. Its chief crop is cotton. Vestula Estelle Carnes was born in Crossville, Alabama in DeKalb County on June 23, 1896. She is now seventy-four years old, about three-hundred pounds, and always wears her long hair back in a bun. She has a sore on her leg that no doctor can heal; they want to remove her leg. She will not stand for this however, and gets around the best she can. She lives in Crossville now in a fairly large one story house. The rooms have high ceilings and the walls are made of wood. There is a screened in porch where there is a fairly cool breeze. Her house is located on Highway 65. Grandma was raised in Crossville on a farm. She helped milk the cows, picked cotton, and did chores for her mother. They didn't have much money. Her father was very strict and would not even allow she and her sisters to wear ribbons in their hair. He didn't want them to get married and so left almost everything in his will to her sisters, because they became old maids. Grandma married when she was sixteen years old. Benjamin Marvin Bowman, my uncle, was born in Powder Springs, Georgia on November 22, 1934. He is now thirty-six years old and works with Lance Incorporated in Gadsden, Alabama where he lives at this time an , 1008 Bellevue Drive. He has red hair, is about five f eet ten inches tall and always is good natured. He was raised in Crossville and picked cotton and did chores on the f arm. His family did not make much money. Laura Grace Bowen was born June 27, 1927 in Crossville, Alabama. She is very hard featured, with dark brown hair and gray eyes. She is now forty-three years old and is employed at a blue jean factory. Her address is Star Route, Dawson, Alabama. As a child, she grew up on a farm and did chores to help her mother. She married when she was fourteen years old and began having children. Her children were also brought up in Crossville. Linda is one of her children. Linda Gail Rucks was born in DeKalb County, Crossville, Alabama on March 20, 1944 in my great grandmother's house. She is now twenty' six years old and is a housewife. She lives in Crossville on Route #2. Linda was brought up around the community she lives in now. She did jobs such as milking cows and picking cotton when she was younger and still does. Her family was of a low economic status.
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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.