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Audio Recording Interview with storekeeper Johnnie Garrison and men in store, Fitzgerald, Georgia, parts 1 and 2

About this Item

Title

  • Interview with storekeeper Johnnie Garrison and men in store, Fitzgerald, Georgia, parts 1 and 2

Names

  • Stanley, David, 1942- (Collector)
  • Garrison, Johnnie

Created / Published

  • Fitzgerald, Georgia, August 4, 1977

Headings

  • -  Foodways
  • -  Folklore--Georgia
  • -  Personal narratives
  • -  Local legends
  • -  Fishing
  • -  Field recordings
  • -  Interviews
  • -  Sound recording
  • -  United States -- Georgia -- Ben Hill County -- Fitzgerald

Genre

  • Field recordings
  • Interviews
  • Sound recording

Notes

  • -  Side A: part 1 of a 2-part interview with Johnnie Garrison and others, Johnnie's Grocery at 207 E. Central, Fitzgerald GA: how Garrison got into the business, came in 1939, managed like a sharecropper, half the profits, bought it in 1945, said, "all customers are interesting to me"; man called "Slop" Jackson would always greet others with "fine and dandy myself, and I hope you're all right"; another black man said "good to be here, so many have been here and gone on"; introduction to Roy Dorminy, associated with the Dorminy place, about log house near the Beau Davis farm, fieldworker notes, "check Walt Dorminy farm, too, owned by John Dorminy, Davis and Dorminy are in partnership"; Garrison describes raising hogs, 9 sows produced 103 pigs, then 8 produced 99; cemetery road, "where the population of Fitzgerald is going"; about Uncle Guy Fuller, Dorminy, "everyone in this country knows that man"; comment, "all people that come to town come in here"; comment, "Guy is a person lover, he recognizes all ages of people, if you can keep off the rattlesnakes, he'll entertain you," about snakes that Guy has killed, now more prevalent, rattlesnakes extinguished years ago, none killed for 40 years, now coming back, perhaps chased out of timber during logging, woods are no longer burned; burning woods to eliminate grasses, usually around February 1, wiregrass, burning also to prevent fires later; about the Wiregrass Region, to the Florida line or further; fieldworker notes cats entering the back door; grass grows back quickly, one inch a night, cattle gain weight on it, about running the (fishing) worms out with a wiregrass stem, grunting (method to harvest worms) is improvement, Doc Reeves made money grunting worms; Crystal Lake, formerly Bone Pond, named for man who ran gristmill, on a bright day, you can see the mill house at the deepest part of the lake, supposedly no bottom, but the lake is about 190 feet deep, Bone found the mill sunk in the lake, Dorminy says, "a big lime sink" (sinkhole); about the hanging near the lake, Dorminy says that a Negro slave was hung there, Garrison says, he was buried alive and they found his hand sticking out of the ground, story in book, J. B. Clements' History of Irwin County (initial publication 1932); fieldworker introduced to Homer Philips; also present is M.P. Liles (Melvin?) of Fitzgerald, who mentions "old man Bostwick" and his killing of a number of people in a family dispute (reference to W.H. Bostwick in Irwinville GA, killed by Georgia Militia on 27 June 1910, after he killed two men and wounded three others), barricaded himself with a circular saw blade, got shot when he stuck his head above it, "somebody let him have it"; about a tobacco box hanging from store ceiling with ball of string to wrap packages (photograph in roll at call number AFC 1982/010: 3-17503), Garrison points to light streak on the ceiling, shadow of the string has worn the paint off the ceiling; mention of carbide lights; fieldworker introduced to Mr. Ivy Brady; someone asks fieldworker about folklife project and the disposition of tape recordings; about Crystal Lake, repeat story about black man's hand sticking out of ground; lake may dry every 7 years, others do, e.g., Ross and Coleman Ponds, comment, "people used to say that it went dry every 7 years but that's just a good story," the Alapaha River traverses this area and lakes are formed along its bed or through an underground river, discussion continues in part 2.
  • -  Side B: part 2 of a 2-part interview with Johnnie Garrison and others, fish at Coleman Pond, water spins out through a hole "like a bathtub," garfish, foodways, salt-curing, sage herb, pickled peppers, planting by phases of moon, cypress fishing boat with flat bottom, home remedies.

Medium

  • audiocassette

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Call number: AFC 1982/010: AFS 21189
  • MBRS shelflist: RYA 1000
  • Field project identifier: GA7-DS-C22

Source Collection

  • South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that some of the materials in this collection are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions, and are therefore free to use or reuse. For example, the fieldwork in this collection is in the public domain in the United States.

However, the Library has obtained permission for the use of other materials, and presents additional materials for educational and research purposes in accordance with fair use under United States copyright law. For example, some of the recordings contain copyrighted music, and not all of the performers and other individuals who were recorded signed releases for public use of their work.

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Credit line: South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Stanley, David, and Johnnie Garrison. Interview with storekeeper Johnnie Garrison and men in store, Fitzgerald, Georgia, parts 1 and 2. Fitzgerald, Georgia, August 4, 1977. Audio. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc1982010_afs21189/.

APA citation style:

Stanley, D. & Garrison, J. (1977) Interview with storekeeper Johnnie Garrison and men in store, Fitzgerald, Georgia, parts 1 and 2. Fitzgerald, Georgia, August 4. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc1982010_afs21189/.

MLA citation style:

Stanley, David, and Johnnie Garrison. Interview with storekeeper Johnnie Garrison and men in store, Fitzgerald, Georgia, parts 1 and 2. Fitzgerald, Georgia, August 4, 1977. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/afc1982010_afs21189/>.