Interview with Era Gillis Carter, November 2, 2003
Scope and Contents
Oral history interview with Era Gillis Carter, November 2, 2003. Willacoochee (Ga.). Fieldworker: Tim Prizer. Audio file digitized from 2 cassette tapes. Part of the Turpentine Series: South Georgia Folklife Project at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Includes transcript and photographs. Topics include the turpentine trade and industry.
Fieldworker notes: Interview took place in the carport of Mr. Carter's home in Willacoochee, GA. Part of Faces of Piney Woods Project. Note: Gillis also videotaped at a later time for website. Truly a wonderful recording of a wonderful interview. The recording, though, made outdoors, is superb in both sound and quality, and only the occasional passing vehicle is audible.
Includes video of Gillis Carter Turpentining Techniques and Tools, Willacoochee (Ga.), June 5, 2004. Raw footage and edited. Edited segments uploaded to YouTube. 1) Footage of Gillis Carter in his yard showing his boxed stump and then illustrating processes of working a tree. 2) Footage of Gillis Carter in his barn showing his collection of old turpentine tools and describing how they were used. 3) Edited footage of Gillis Carter of Willacoochee. Fieldworker: Tim Prizer. Videographer: Bill Muntz. Part of Faces of Piney Woods Project. View on YouTube.
Biography of Gillis Carter
Born May 1, 1941 in Coffee County, GA, Gillis Carter spent the earliest years of his life as young boy whose father, Era Carter, was on the verge of becoming successful in the turpentine business. By the time Gillis was five years old, he lived in a home just a short walk from his current home on the outskirts of Willacoochee, GA, and his father had begun hiring a fair number of African American turpentine hands to work the timber on land he leased from others. Under their father, Carter and his four brothers grew up working turpentine, and the only break Gillis would take from the line of work was the four years he spent acquiring his B. S. in Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He worked turpentine and hired countless others to work for him until 1978, when his father rightfully recognized that turpentine would no longer turn the profits it once had.
Carter’s past, though full of success in the turpentine industry, is also littered with hardship. As an adult, Carter has suffered two heart attacks, and he battles diabetes every day, a disease that cost him to lose half of his left foot to surgery. In addition to his health concerns, his four brothers have all passed away - one from cancer, another from a heart attack, and yet another from drowning - and his mother died in a house fire years ago. He makes it clear that, through all of this, he has grown very close to Jesus Christ. A warm, Christian man, Carter lives happily now with his wife and his mother-in-law, and his children and “grandbabies” live on the property adjacent to his.
Though the turpentine industry has vanished from the country, and though his primary human link to it - his father - has passed away, Carter remains more actively involved in the memory of the work than perhaps anyone in the United States. He continues to work four trees and six faces in his front yard, and one of his barns houses an elaborate collection of turpentine tools and artifacts. His goal is to remind those who may have forgotten about the industry and to educate the younger generation that may not otherwise ever learn to appreciate the livelihood of its forebears.
Dates
- November 2, 2003
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: PRJ-1010 Sounds of South Georgia
Box 19
Folder 70: VHS-1010.06 The McIntosh County Shouters may not be copied
Extent
53.0 Gigabytes (1 electronic record(s) and derivatives. 3 audio file [combined] (wav, mp3) 361,759,631 bytes. 03:08:24. 5 PDF documents (42 scans, jp2). 3 video masters (.avi), split into 26 H.264 MP4 files. 00:51:58. 24 photographs (.jpg, .jp2). Bag size: 53.0 GB (56,976,119,768 bytes).) : Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-04T21:12:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 cas-1002-09_complete.mp3: 361759631 bytes, checksum: 8ece97418297b8e8d205e4ce87b60966 (MD5) ads-1002-06_Redacted.pdf: 431866 bytes, checksum: 33c33d69de68af97acca79856264976b (MD5) tapelog-and-transcript.pdf: 11221468 bytes, checksum: 61541e57c79c1630c8b436e3aba33f70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-11-02
Language
From the Collection: English
Tape Logs and Artist Data Sheet
id_number: ADS-1002-06
last_name: Carter
first_name: Gillis
Call number: PRJ-1002
artist_city: Willacoochee
state: GA
zip: 31650
artist_county: Atkinson
birthdate: 05/01/41
birthplace: "Wilsonville, GA (Coffee Co.)"
ethnicity_1: European American
religion: Christianity (Methodist)
genre: "Turpentine, personal experience narrative, occupational folklife,naval stores local history"
occupation: retired
date_of_contact: 11/02/03
contact_made_by: Timothy C. Prizer
notes: "Interview took place in the carport of Mr. Carter's home in Willacoochee, GA. Part of Faces of Piney Woods Project. Note: Gillis also videotaped at a later time for website. Truly a wonderful recording of a wonderful interview. The recording, though, made outdoors, is superb in both sound and quality, and only the occasional passing vehicle is audible."
id: CAS-1002.09.1 and CAS-1002.09.2
item_title: Gillis Carter
call_number: PRJ-1002
project_title: Turpentine
equipment_used: Radio Shack CTR-122
informant_name: Gillis Carter
fieldworker: Timothy C. Prizer
recording_engineer: Timothy C. Prizer
date: 02-Nov-03
recording_location: The carport of Mr. Gillis Carter's home at Route 2, Box 4320 in Willacoochee, GA.
content_summary: Mr. Gillis Carter speaks of his life working and employing others in the turpentine woods of south Georgia. He has had a long life in turpentine, and he remains one of the last individuals in the United States still actively working trees, even if for private use and personal reasons. Carter's words are laced with both striking honesty and heartfelt nostalgia. He is quite articulate, and his language is delightfully eloquent.
notes: Original tape number 03.6
technical_summary: This recording is excellent in sound quality. Though recorded outdoors with the sound of the occasional passing automobile, the recording is surprisingly quiet and crisp. Mr. Carter's voice is nearly always perfectly audible and his words nearly all intelligible.
genre: occupational folklife, naval stores, turpentine, personal experience narrative
places: Willacoochee
people: Gillis Carter, Era Carter
groups: European American
id: DVD-1002.06.1
item_title: Turpentine-Gillis Carter #1 of 2
call_number: PRJ-1002
project_title: Turpentine
informant_name: Gillis Carter
fieldworker: Tim Prizer
recording_engineer: Bill Muntz
date: 05-Jun-04
recording_location: Willacoochee
content_summary: Footage of Gillis Carter in his barn showing his collection of old turpentine tools and describing how they were used. For Faces of Piney Woods Web Site.
technical_summary: Raw footage for Faces of Piney Woods turpentine website.
genre: Good.
places: occupational folklife
people: naval stores
groups: turpentine
keywords: Willacoochee
linked_document: Gillis Carter
id: DVD-1002.06.2
item_title: Turpentine - Gillis Carter #2 of 2
call_number: PRJ-1002
project_title: Turpentine
informant_name: Gillis Carter
fieldworker: Tim Prizer
recording_engineer: Bill Muntz
date: 05-Jun-04
recording_location: Willacoochee
content_summary: Footage of Gillis Carter in his yard showing his boxed stump and then illustrating processes of working a tree. For Faces of Piney Woods website.
places: occupational folklife
people: naval stores
groups: turpentine
keywords: Willacoochee
linked_document: Gillis Carter
id: DVD-1002.07
item_title: Turpentine - Gillis Carter Edited
call_number: PRJ-1002
project_title: Turpentine
informant_name: Gillis Carter
fieldworker: Tim Prizer
recording_engineer: Bill Muntz
date: 05-Jun-04
recording_location: Willacoochee
content_summary: Edited footage of Gillis Carter of Willacoochee notes: used in Traditions of Turpentine website links for Techniques video and Tools video
places: turpentine
people: naval stores
groups: occupational folklife
keywords: Willacoochee
linked_document: Gillis Carter
Processing Information
PRJ-1002-06, ADS-1002-06, CAS-1002.09.1, CAS-1002.09.2, DVD-1002.06.1, DVD-1002.06.2, DVD-1002.07, DAT-1002.7.1 (missing), DAT-1002.11.1 (cas copy), DAT-1002.11.2 (cas copy), SCA-2004.6, M6247, M6299, M6300.
1. Duplicates of cassettes: DAT tapes labeled DAT 1002.11.1c; DAT 1002.11.2c: "Copy of Gillis Carter, 11-2-2003". DAT # is for Wilburt Johnson. Mislabeled/numbered copy tape? Not digitized.
2. 3 DVD's (not found), but DVCPro tape copies digitized and upscaled to 1080p. 3 master files. Raw and edit. Split in segments.
3. Gillis Carter Stills for Tools Video [DAT-1002.7.1]. - NOT SURE WHAT OR WHERE THIS IS. Can't find DAT tape, tape log, and no descriptive info in ArchivesSpace except: Dates: 1996 - 2006. Possibly audio only duplicate of Tools and Techniques Video.
Source
- Carter, Era Gillis, 1941-2010 (Interviewee, Person)
- Prizer, Timothy C. (Interviewer, Person)
- Gillis Carter with Hack, 2003 [Photograph]
- Oral history interview with Era Gillis Carter, November 2, 2003 [MP3 Audio]
- Tape Log and Transcript: Oral history interview with Era Gillis Carter, November 2, 2003 [PDF]
- Artist Data Sheet: Oral history interview with Era Gillis Carter, November 2, 2003 [PDF]
- Gillis Carter: Turpentining Techniques and Tools, June 5, 2004 [YouTube Playlist]
Repository Details
Part of the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections Repository
Valdosta State University Archives, Odum Library
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta GA 30601 United States
7063728116
229-259-5055 (Fax)
archives@valdosta.edu