Armstrong Interview with Sarah Mills Ivey

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 recording starts at 3:47 with Sarah Ivey talking about her family history. Specifically, she tells the story of meeting her husband, James Steed Ivey. Then at 9:42 Ivey shares ghost stories told to children to keep them away from wells. Next at 13:18, she recalls additional family stories and traditions, including an Atlanta Christmas tradition that involved adults dressing up in costumes. She also recalls singing the hymn How Firm a Foundation, with her grandfather. At 22:50, Ivey tells a family Civil War story about her grandmothers excitement to her son returning home from the war. Ivey switches to sharing riddles and jokes at 26:08, starting with one about Ole Mother Twitch-it,, followed up by one about a prank ministers played on each other when fishing. At 30:36 she claims that President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) stayed repeatedly in her grandfathers house in Lawrenceville, Georgia. At 33:08 Ivey tells a folktale about Ole Sis cow and Brer Rabbit. Then she recounts encountering foxfire, a phosphorescent light emitted by decaying wood or mushrooms. At 44:29 Ivey talks about herbal medicine, particularly using it to tend babies with croup. At 52:25 she shares a Lawrenceville, Georgia, local legend about the snake woman, who experienced convulsions and her parents instructed her to avoid. Next, at 54:32 Ivey describes a collection of quilts that her friend gifted her, that she subsequently gave away. Then she talks about gardening, particularly the vegetables she grew. She finishes the recording by telling additional stories about her childhood, including incidents when she misbehaved such as giving her sister a bad haircut. Sarah Sadie Mills Ivey (1895-1985) was born in Decatur, Georgia to Jefferson Shackelford Mills (1871-1922) and Mary Savannah Reagin (1876-1957). She worked as a printer at her fathers newspaper company in Lithonia, Georgia. In 1918, she married James Steed Ivey (1897-1959), and they had three children: James (1920-2000), Winifred (1929-), and Miriam (1924-1994). She had a total of five grandchildren and died in Hapeville, Georgia. Mrs. Ivey Reacy now? Jobn I think we got the history to Lawrenceville. Ms 1; My father worked on the newspaper in Decatur and we settled for a good l9llg ' while - we have a family reunion the 9th of June and there are 154 of us;: Jobn This is on the Ivey side? Ms I, No; the Mills side; The Ivey side goes way back. They have deeper roots than our side~ On the Ivey side Benjamin Ivey was one of the first men mentioned in Atlanta history~ That's my husband's great grandfather (Ms r: gives geographical boundaries of her great grandfather's property;) John How did you meet Mr, Ivey? Ms I; I'd been away a good long while. I came back to Atlanta in 1916; I'd been away after three years in Mississippi~ Our family lived there and I went to work. I stopped in the printing shop because my father brought me up under his wing in the print shop; I'd come back from school and when I was a little tot he let me do as I wanted to and I learned to set type when I was nine years old; So I always knew that - I'd been sick a good while and so when I came back and I looked at Mr. Donaldson's and I asked if he had some work and he said he did and that was when I met my husband - was in Atlanta, in Atlanta on Pryor street over Threefold Paint Company where next door to the old Arlington Hotel(?);;; I worked there with him all spring and I didn't like him one bit all spring and summer. Come November why, we had a terrible snow storm and no way in the world for me to get home and he walked me home and I appreciated it so much I was decent to him: John What was Mr~ Hay's name? Mrs. I James Steed: John Ms I~ John Ms I. What was your father's name? James Shackleford - we say the wh ol e n-a=e beca~ use it was the same initials; Ah, Shackleford, there's a street out 1n;;;;where ~ Yeah, it's a big family name connected with;~~~There's a Dr. Shackleford here now, in fact he brought Bonnie and Marty (grandchildren) into the world.' Uh, let s see, I grew up in Decatur and my father had a newspaper. I've got some little notes in there and I think I'll let you look 1em over. (Ms Ii hands Collector short autobiographical sketch containing several anecdotes and memories. Collect:r reads; Ms I~ continues-) As a child I was a type of a loner but I saw everything and tried a little bit of everything;;.~ Mary Ann Tell em about the donkey, grandmother; Ms r; I told YOU if you said that I'd slap you so(?) to tell such things in mixed company; John Oh, well, I could leave if you want.;.; Ms r; {to granddaughter) You can tell Nina, she knows it, hadn't she already told you, Nina? M~A. No, I never told anybody in my whole life, I told John today I always thought it was so nasty~;:. John Ohl I see you already knew old Rowhead and Bloody Bones. Ms I. Yeah, that was;.~;r was brought up With that rascal and that, that never bothered me a bit. John Ms I. You ever know any stories about old Rawhead and. Bloody Bones? No, I just had to keep away from the weu; I never missed one(?) I looked at~.;;I crawled up watched~~-~looked at myself and everythillg else you know, it'd just be;;;;always be like a mirror you know, but it was all still; John Be was just a general boogey man then? Ms r; Yeah:;:;(Collector continues to read Ms r:s notes, several comments~) John 'Why don't you tell us a little about the well here. Do you have any idea why they were forbidden? Just because it was generally dangerous? Ms r: Oh; that was, anything to keep a child away, and they thought all that that wou1d keep 'em away and you know it might have some but it didn1t me. My daddy used to tell me you re gonna climb a tree one day and look down and there's gonna be a snake under you: Coming down to where I couldn't get down and I wondered why he'd worry about it you know it didn't bother me.;:~ana. I used to read and scratch my head and I'd read and he said, "You know sometimes you're gonna be so embarrassed when you catch yourself afore someone scratching your head 1ike that;" Well; I couldn't see why because it was the most comfort,. Joma Was this well in Decatur? Ms I. Oh, all wells, I - everybody had a well, some were deep and dark and some were right up on top of the ground; My grandfather's down in Lithonia was almost on top of the ground; I know when my daddy helped to dig that he - We went a.own there in the summer and he went out and started the well right in front of the house, in the front yard, it was real nice. That's where we kept our meat - you didn't buy - people didn't butcher until the weekend when they wanted meats for the weekend: And then they'd take and put it in a bucket and drop it do,m the we11;; ;hole;;; take a string and let it touch the water in in the well. Oh, it was the refrigeration we had. Just think how we have to have everything now, if a light goes off an hour we have a fit. MlA:~ Grandmother, don't you remember the sort of things you'd tell us when we'd spend the night with you, try to make us sit still? Ms I. Darling; those things have to:;;they have to come to you from time to time; they have to - I dont know, they just come into your mind, for a while sometimes. Have you been all the way through it (referring to written anecdotes) John Yeah, just about, I'm to the part about the Fantasticks now, um, well, why don't you tell, just to tell it out loud, about what you remember about the Fantasticks: Ms r: Well, they:::we watched for 1em; We were afraid to leave the house around Christmas: We'd usually go over to my grandfather's for Christmas down in Lithonia; most Christmas we didn't we'd go right after that but Christmas night was always up to Christmas Eve you was preperin' for it, well from then on, for a solid week, these Fantesticks would be everywhere, from afternoon, early in the afternoon up until 10 or 11 et night, you know, visiting around. And I know everybody knew em but we kids didn't~ We didn't know.::they was just special, you know, that was like Santa Claus himself if you were around then. They had, uh, they blew horns and just made, just frolicked, I think they popped in on all the parties and things like that. M .1i:. Kind of like streakers today? (General conversation continues about streaking songs and Mrs: Ivey kidding her sister Ethel:) Ms I. This elephant story I'm telling you about, I worried so for years, wondering where the elephant was (refer to Ms Iveys notes concerning - 5 - statue of IThite Elephant formerly located :ln front of saloon of same name on Alabama Street; Its disappearance and later rediscovery, now residing in garden of Swan House:) 154 John Do you remember m:iy legends or buried treasure stories or how certain places got their names? 180 Ms I. Oh; there - if one should colll1'.l to mind, you ougbta asked me 15 years ago (explains forgetting name of plant she finally got; after years of looking for it:) I was trying to tb:lnk of what my grandfather used to talk about: I know my grandfather Mills lived in Lawrenceville, and I spend the night with him so much when we lived there and I can remember that;::every night we'd have family prayer service, and my grandfather was old and all bent over, his chin nearly touched his knees he was so c:cppled with arthritis. Well, every night of the world after bible reading we'd sing one song Onward Christian Soldiers, no How Firm a Foundation and we'd rock that house down - every night of the world: Never changed, We had a family lived next door - a Dr, 8aul Jacobs was the family next door to grandfather where he lived, his father was the founder of Oglethorpe (College?) and he had a sister a little sister - um; two sisters, it was the little sister; J\J.so had Dr. Ezzards, lived up in the second house from grandfather and I was just a little girl and [ knew things was wrong when this little girl came down and I said, I took some medicine out of her hands and she had gone over to nr; Ezzards' and gotten it, walked up the steps, he kept his medicine at the top of the steps, he had no children, and this child wasn't but 7 or 8 years old and, uh, a retarded child for some reason, I don't know whet her trouble was, she was just retarded, but we all had a lot of patience with her, you know: But I 241 - 6 - was just beginning to kinda read but I knew she had some Strychnine in her hand, and I took it away from her and threw it in the corn, way out in the cornpatch and forgot it. Well, that night she died, but you see I was never even old enough to tell em until afterwards what I knew: Wadn 1t no doubt but that she'd eaten out of it But they knew it was strychnine because her spine bent so bad. Well, thet was a terrible burden on me as a child, it was an awful burden because, well; they couldn't heve saved her even then, but just the same, I didn t understand any of that - all I knew was that I hed seen her with it and threw it away but never went to tell anybody. I thought well I did, the bottle was closed up and I threw it away, it was all over. 'Course naturally the right thing wouldve been to take it over to the Doctor's office~ John Well, that's basically the kind of story; you know, the kind of stirt you tell children to keep em busy or while they're workin' as at night: Ms Ii Well, I did a lot of that for the children, John Or riddle, or jokes Ms I. Oh yeah; riddles. M~'.A.;, Grana.ma; that donkey's as good as Aesop's fables. Ms r: What; dear? M;;i<'~, That donkey story:;:funny that's the only one I can remember:~:it's funny when she tells it. Ms I. We11; I'm not telling it;:; (Mrs: Ivey excuses her memory lapse, explains her sickness recem;ly, then relates a story of her grandfather returning from the Civil War.) My mother said that at one time that - well I was shy, too - still am - I don't know, maybe it's prudishness my mother was - she said one day she'd worked awfully hard~ My father and she were courting, they were - 7 - going together and she didn't know he was anywhere around at all and she came and plopped down on the front porch and kicked her shoes off and about that time he grabbed her naked feet (laughter) she said she thought she'd never outlive it; I guess she thought she had to marry him then; John Any more funny relatives? Ms r; Oh; me, I should say, Mama Ivey, I used to listen to every word she'd say (general conversatbn about mother's times, mentions gathering of families for weddings and the practical "tricks" boys wold play on the girls, but would not elaborate) 271 John Can you remember any sort of riddles, riddling games, joking riddles? Ms I. I can't tbink of a riddle everybody else didn't know~ You know Ole Mother Twitch-it? John No: Ms I~ Ole Mother Twitch-it had but one eye and a long tail that she let fly, let's see, and she would go in and out and everytime she always left a piece of her tail. Now that's the nearest I can come to remember what it is and thats a needle and thread; (Conversation about young relative) 305 John Ever hear any preacher stories? Preacher coming to dinner or Lord and the Devil stories? Ms I. Oh; I think this wld stretch out. I guess you cant hardly begin it~ I wonder how old it is the one about the, you know it always starts off the Protestant church, the Methodist, the Baptist and the Presbyterian, they always go together and I have a nephew the first time I told this he was terribly insulted, terrible, but these three ministers went out on a fishing trip and they, the Methodist and the Presbyterian ministers had been going for a long time and they 1d start out to the boat and they had e little plank that just dipped down under the water just a little bit and they'd walk out and never thought about anything else - they did think about it - they had in mind play.ilng a little trick on him; so they marched across it end here come the Baptist and he stepped in end "plunk" he went dmm end young Methodist said, you know we ought to have told him about that little plank. I always thought that was right cute. (Interlude - talk of Fairview Presbyterian Church - oldest Presbyterian church in Georgie - talk of Woodrow Wilson spending time at Grandfather's home in Lawrenceville:) 366 John You remember any sort of animal stories? Tarbaby? Ms I. Ob, I don't remember any now - I know that, ugh, I know that Harris stories - all his stories, but, er, I don't think I could add to it I used to say as a kid I used to tell my grandfather - well I could have written that - he says we:J,J., try it, see whet you can do. I'd think they'd sound so sin1l?le you know when I'd read em. John Well; if you could remember any of Harris' stories. Ms I't oh; don't you have em all down in print? John Yeeh; I know most of em~ Ms 1: Ob; we11; I know Ole Sis Cow; I don't think I ever, I don't think I ever saw that in any of bis books, did you? John No, whats the name of this? Ms 1: Ole Sis Cow and Brer Rabbit: This story is of Brer Rabbit: I'll have to try to remember the beginning of it. I've told it to the kids a thousand times. Oh, I think he was planning to go to the apple tree with Sis Cow and he wanted to entice her out there because he wanted her to knock the apples off the tree, to run and he'd say; heist your head up and go with your head, you know, and knock the apples; John Butt the tree." - 9 - Ms r; Yeah; butt the tree and knock the apples off - so, eh, she did that and would go along with him and they'd get the apples: But one morning they were at this same ole stunt and it was early in the morning and got there and the horns stuck (laughter) so then Brer Rabbit called his wife and all the little rabbits to bring buckets and he switched(?) her - his term for milking was he switched(?) her; I'd lengthen it out to tell it to the kids but they got all the milk and finally she got through, you know, and she came at him, but they'd already !mad. the milk and they'd gone off all with it and; eh; oh me, I'm just too old to remember anything; John No; you re not: You re doing a good job; Ms I. Well, of course, he got in the briar patch and watched her go by - in high fashion:: John Did he get in trouble with the farmer? Ms I. No; there wasn 1t any farmer - this was just between Brer Rabbit and Sis Cow~' Mi:Ai'.i' Did she get her horns out? Ms r; Well; when she did, you see; she was furious. But he got over in the briar patch and peeked out and watched her go past in high dungeon: Oh, Dear. 417 I remember a story that I haven't ever seen since I was a little tot and it made a great impression on me and I believed. every word of it and it comes to me clear as a whistle sometimes now about the three little orphan sisters. I mean the little stepsisters - kind of a Cinderella story in a way; and that when one of the girls spoke only snakes and frogs came and then the other one had different things that came from her but the little angel child was all pearls that came from her mouth Do you remember that story anywhere? John No; it seems to me I've heard about one child with only snakes and frogs that came from her mouth because she was so mean. Ms r: We11; thats what I always felt and it's a" it made a great impression on me -wbn I was a little kid and I went around With pearls~J; Let me make you some coffee., Maybe that will open Up my mind. (Reminisce about Mrs: Ivey's house:) .... 10 ... John I tell you if you don't mind while we've got the tape on, you want to go over the foxfire? Again; recount it - go over it again; Ms r: Have you got it running now? John Yeah. Ms I~ And start where? John Just with the foxfire and rainbow story. Ms I~ oh; well; those really happened to me: I - John Was it while you were living out here? Ms I~ Uh huh - we moved out here when our little son was about twentyptwo months old and uh, let's see, we were out here in 121 and 171 we lived here fifty years I say "we" cause my husband's always been so close and, um;,;,:r can almost hear him whistling; Sometimes he used to walk from the (street) car at Stewart Avenue and when he'd get up there at the store, well, it's a long, long block from here to the next corner and he had a certain whistle and he used it till all the kids round here finally learned it and it was something I never heard, but I'd get little Jim and we 'd start to meet him any time he came, you know; John You and he going up to the store? Ms r; Well, he would be coming home from work; 516 John When you saw the foxfire? Ms r: Oh; just he and I - little Jim must have been with some of the kids somewhere because it was just right after supper and it began to get dark and we had a little errand up to the store: Now it was uncanny coming back, now going on it just floated ahead of us just so far and that was all right, you know, we just had encountered it so much down in this hollow down here, just seeing it flitting around and in damp weather like this and thought nothing 539 - 11 of it; but when it was out there and walked back with us, it was just a little more than we could take. (Laughter) MA What was it? Ms I. Phosphorus~ Nina I've never seen it: M.'A't' I've never heard about it. Ms I, Well in dall1P places, It's organic that causes it. It's a gas. But it, I guess our movement of our body kept it just that :t'ar apart. We were delighted, you know, up there - but coming back: I used to; they used to always call me. I didn't know anything but they thought I did. Call me before they'd call the doctor, when anybody got sick I don't care who it was they always sent for ~lrs, Ivey: So I've walked many a night with a croup kettle: Clear up to Mt: Zion road 1way up by Mt: Zion church by myself and never thought anything about it so down there. There's a neighbor had a new baby one night and I went down there to help 'em out and the next morning I stayed on to help em out and Dan said to me, "Mrs: Ivey, would you mind fixen me a little breakfast? I'm about to starve." And I said; well, you run to the store and get somethingI I thought he 1d bring back a little bit of bacon or something: There didn't seem to be anything there, Instead of that he brought back a chicken: Well, I fixed it up for him and I made two pans of biscuit and a big pan of gravy and be didn't leave one taste. (Laughter) 12 Ms I. I've sit up with more croupy babies than anybody you ever saw. John That's something I meant to ask you, did you say Cll:Upy? Ms Ji Babies with the croup John What is the croup? Ms I; It s a - uh - a membrane, it s something in the throat, when they have a cold::;it 1s a someway connected with the bronichal (bronchial) tubes, and it comes as a rasping cough, it, sometimes it 1s just strangling and you have to work hard and fast with em to, you use vapors and use a croup kettle and things like that: I always had a croup kettle. Nina Is a croup kettle like a, um, a vaporizer? Ms I~ No; it's a mixture you make uo:;; (Mrs: Ivey laughs, remembering administering medication to reluctant Miriam:) Mine was usually made up out of Vicks or something like that, you know, harmless, and I 1d dose 1em with a teaspoonful if they was big enough; 591 John Well; did you ever get a chance to use much herbs? Ms I. Well, I was just gonna tell you; I was, well, I'm a firm believer in 'em because my grandmother; you know, and when I was just:;:well, between 5 and 6; my sister was born in December and this was in the fall before she was born I came in and told my mother one day, she was, she cut me out things to make for my doll, you know, and I was sewing and I said, "I see, every time I look at this thread; I see five or six colors of thread and I can t find the real thread any more:" .And mama called the doctor, y , know and before they could do anything for me::; (Mrs: Ivey interrupts her narrative to comment on a neighbor's dog crossing her yard):::she took me to the doctor, he called in another doctor and I had, uh, I don't know what he said it was, but anyway I began having convulsions, and they were having a meeting in Atlanta, the doctors were, and he called in two doctors and they came out to see me, out from the meeting in Atlanta, c!lllle out to - 13 Decatur, and they had already roped the whole square off out there where there were no (1) but transportation was wagons and horses and that, but . '" I'd go into convulsions with the least little thing. And my grandmother came and the doctors told my mother that I had encephalitis Which is what we called a brain tumor, no brain fever in those days' And that, if I lived, I'd probably never know anything. So my grandmother was on the way and she came and she had to shave my head from here (indicates a point on top of her skull, makes a circle back to juncture of spinal column; area covering approximately two-thirds of the rear portion of her head) all 'round to here, and she took little mustard plasters big as a half-a-dollar and kept em a certain length of time and on and off, and my feet in hot water to my knees. And they never turned me loese. I had to sit in someone's lap with my feet down in the hot water and they kept it a certain tenu;ierature and these mustard plasters on there till I stopped my convulsions and I came right out of it: So I always say my grandmother saved my life, well, my father's mother did for him the same thing about that'l' But anyway they had to use those things before and when my children came along we had to use things soZ:;my little Miriam had, would have erysipelas(?) and I never had seen it before in my life but she just had it in the worst way: We'd be all right, everything all right and all at once she'd have a terrible fever and maybe a great flaming rash up her arm or leg or somewhere and it was erysipelas, and I didn't know where it came from I don't know what the doctors know, but I was nearly crazy with it here for several weeks, and, uh, I went to, uh, I had an herb book here and it said to get alder and tea and make an infusion of that end it was slow but it was sure, and I got it and started on her, and she hated that, too, but it certainly straightened her out. - 14 Nina What was it? Ms I 11l It 1s a little bush that groos out in the swamps and has a little tiny tag (Z) on it and you get the bark when it 1s fresh and green and scrape off two ounces and put an ounce of boiling water on it, cover over it, and, then use a wine glass about three times a day: Drink a cup; So I used that for anything they had around here, for coughs or colds because the book said it was fine blood - and they use it now, you know - John What 1s the name of the herb? Ms 1: A-1-d-e-r, alder: lY!~ll'.:i Alder; like;; lno, that's elderberries,. Ms 1: Well; elder and alder, they're not the same at all, but they're found in the smme localities sometimes And, uh, I've used:~;theres nothing any better for an astringent than -~o take the same amount of bark from a willow tree~ It's as good as any astringent,you can have for poison oak or anything; It'll just take it right away~ But you see they are those things now, the blood pressure, high blood pressure medicine I'm taking now is one the people in South America and Mexico use all the time. John What's in it, do you know? Or what's it made from? Ms I. Yeah; it's the rawzide, r-a-w-z-i-d-e, and that's a variation from the name of the plant, I've forgotten just what it is And its universally used now and its very effective,. l !mow my doctor - I don't have high blood pressure - he says it keeps mine normal: 'Course, it runs up every now and then.:; 685 Mil\'.'l' Did you ever know any witches? Ms I. Now; don't believe l did: I remember::. John Do'you ever remember any stories about people who did? Ms 1: No; but the nearest thing lever knew to a witch was a - we weren't allowed; we were told parts never to go around em, but when I was, oh 15 - ten or twelve;years old in Lawrenceville, there was what was called a snake woman. Well, she was lying - sitting by the side of the bed and with her arms and her body thrown on the bed for support and she was writhing constantly never stopped and I think it was when somebody came in she would to, we11; maybe not:::other things: But there were great tales told about her; so we went home and it leaked out (that she had been to see the snake woman) and my daddy said he was astounded that she was still living because he said when he was a child she was living st that (t::ime) even then: so, a few; years later her mother died, and when her mother died she died shortly afterwards because she was a terrible care to her; you know. Because she didn't, she looked perfectly healthy, but just that; just those movements, she was writhing, squairming just like an insect or something, or like a creature. But of course she was a perfect idiot: But I dont know why I didn't get half killed for going over there: But we were told never to go over there. I don't think they had her in mind; they just didn't want us to go in the mill section because it was a uh - very;:: John Rough lot1 Ms r: I imagine it was pretty rough over there or they wouldn1t:::have forbidden anybody to go about: We sure went; (Chuckles) Talkin1 about the quilts they have in there (Collector had earlier mentioned the various items housed in the Folk Museum) a few years ago a friend who was 94 years old, lives across the street, somebody gave her some quilts and they were quilted on newspaper. They used to have what they call a string quilt' and they quilt em on newspaper: And all of em were in the 1900 1s, early 1900 1s, and I gave everyone of them away: John You mean they were patterns? Ms r: No, they were old quilts, they had never been quilted, they were~ they z had the newspaper still on the back, and they were the Constitution, the Atlanta Constitution of 1900, 1, 2, 3, somewhere along there (Ms I; reminisces about a stay in Columbus, Georgia, during the Spanish".l\merican War, her tr:i.mrning her sister 1s hair until it was weverely short:::going dmm to the train depot with the same sister to watch the troop trains go by, and catching hardtack thrown by the soldiers, catching it in their organdy pinafores. 771 John Do you mind telling us about the rainbow, when it was you saw it in your front yard? (During an earlier tour of her small garden, Mrs. Ivey had pointed to one corner of her lot and said that once she had seen the end of the rainbow fall on that spot:) 892 Ms I, The time of, uh, the time of the year? (Mrs. Ivey recounts their move to her present location in 1921, the building df the house and sighting the rainbow's end in 1923) Well, -it was a thrill to me, you know; I could think of lots of things I 1ve seen, thrilling (Mrs; Ivey begins to remember the physical attributes of the location, its isolation and the notable landmarks when she and her husband just moved: After question from Collector about her interest in herbs (herbal medicine) Ms Ivey begins general account, past and present, of her interest in gardening., Collector tries to extract a tall tale by asking, "Do you know anything about people with really good green thumbs, that grow some outrageous size things?" Response never transcends factual level of pumpkins "stacked on the back porch this high:::11 (indicates a point approximately 41 off floor), collards and raspberries: End of Left Channel: Right Channel (Begins with personal anecdote of an ornery period she had and the trouble it caused): - 17 - 01& John Dia you ever run across any 1fool Irishman tales1? Elicits no subject-related response.:;continued personal memories 032 until Mrs~ Ivey says, ''Well, I just can't think of the ones that are worthwhile right now. Collector terminates session: 2--, ~ ~ ~ ,~_A.> ~ ~ ~'-9-- ','-An r ~~~ ~ ~ n ~ ~ . ~ ~il"..\L.L ~ ~ ~ ,L.A./'-"-"' ~, ~~ \~ ~ ~ c& ~ ~ ~ ~ . -RELEASEDy letting us collect your traditions--sto,cies, sonr,s, music, rememberences, or beliefs of earlier days--you ,,ave made a valuable contribution to preserving and understandinr, ;lo,,thern history, and especially the ,oray of life of your cov1munity. 1:2cause you have eiven unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georr,ia Folklore Archives~ whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profitsc By signinr, this sheets you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people uho are interested can understand how life was in the old days. If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Than!, you for the time you have F,iven to help us record a heritage that is an i1"portant part of American life. "In consideration of ray intent in helpine to preserve my folk heritage, I hereby grant permission to the Georeia Folk Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, ot otherwise mal:e use of, the material recorded from me by the ar;ent of the Georgia Folklore Archives whose name appears on this sheeto Signed Georcia Folklore Archives c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gil!ner Street Southeast Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Ac1.dress 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.