Interview with Ralph Wilkerson, February 22, 2004
Scope and Contents
Oral history interview with Ralph Wilkerson, February 22, 2004. Waycross (Ga.). Fieldworker: Timothy C. Prizer. Audio file digitized from cassette tape. Part of the South Georgia Folklife Project at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.
Mr. Wilkerson speaks of his life working in the turpentine woods and stills of south Georgia. He worked from childhood to adulthood in the woods and then worked at the turpentine still in Hoboken, GA until 1982, when he left the turpentine industry for good. He now works at the sawmill at Varn Wood Products in Hoboken, GA.
Dates
- February 22, 2004
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
Biographical Note
Born March 11, 1949 in Hoboken, Georgia, Ralph Wilkerson was raised on a turpentine camp owned and operated by Frank Dukes. A childhood friend of Willie “Coon” White, Jr., Wilkerson was also a member of the “Little Boys’ Squad.” By the time he was 12 years old, he had learned the ways of the woods while dipping gum with his peers and watching his father and other elders work through the long, hot days among the pines.
The first 17 years of Wilkerson’s life were spent in the turpentine quarters. At 17, he left the woods and entered the job corps before working in a machine shop, on the railroad, and finally for an asphalt plant in Florida. He returned to Georgia as a 25-year-old eager to go back into the turpentine business. He was hired at the Varn Turpentine Still in Hoboken, where it was his job to unload the heavy barrels of gum from the trucks and roll them to the kettle for cooking. When the still followed the turpentine industry’s demise, Varn was hired on to work in the sawmill at Varn Wood Products in Hoboken.
He works at the sawmill with Willie White still today, and he lives with his wife in Waycross.
Extent
961 Megabytes (1 electronic record(s) and derivatives. 2 audio file (wav, mp3) 865470588 bytes. 01:21:25. 4 PDF documents (3 scans, jp2). 961 MB (1,007,966,659 bytes).) : Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-13T18:03:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 cas-1002-012_complete.mp3: 117260687 bytes, checksum: 72f80d19bb02ef627ea3a3308de28af5 (MD5) tapelog-and-transcript.pdf: 182491 bytes, checksum: e2d8975009b726d90f9c84f95efbb400 (MD5) ads-1002-020_Redacted.pdf: 379456 bytes, checksum: 38093cf8a651478d663f0be87ac2d629 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-02-22
Language
From the Collection: English
Tape Log
Name of person(s) interviewed: Ralph Wilkerson
Fieldworker: Timothy C. Prizer
Date of interview: 22 February 2004
Location of interview: The kitchen table in Mr. Ralph Wilkerson’s home at 116 Garlington Circle in Waycross, GA.
Other people present: N/A
Brand of tape recorder: Radio Shack CTR-122
Brand and type of tape: Maxell XLII
Tape Number: 04.3 (Fieldworker’s designation)
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF TAPE QUALITY (background noise, etc.)
Mr. Wilkerson speaks audibly throughout the recording, and there is very little background noise whatsoever.
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF TAPE CONTENTS
Mr. Wilkerson speaks of his life working in the turpentine woods and stills of south Georgia. He worked from childhood to adulthood in the woods and then worked at the turpentine still in Hoboken, GA until 1982, when he left the turpentine industry for good. He now works at the sawmill at Varn Wood Products in Hoboken, GA.
Artist Data Sheet
ARTIST/INFORMANT DATA SHEET
NAME: Ralph Wilkerson
SEX: Male
ADDRESS AND PHONE: Waycross, Georgia 31503
COUNTY: Ware
BIRTHDATE: 1949
BIRTHPLACE: Hoboken, Georgia (Brantley County)
CATEGORY OF ARTIST: Former turpentiner
GENRE/CATEGORY OF PRODUCT: Occupational folklife, tape-recorded interview and detailed tape index
ETHNIC BACKGROUND: African American
OCCUPATION
PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Christianity
OCCUPATIONS: Varn Wood Products, Hoboken, GA
FIELDWORKER: Tim Prizer
DATE: 22 February 2004
LOCATION: The kitchen table in Mr. Wilkerson’s home in Waycross, Georgia.
COMMENTS: Mr. Wilkerson speaks audibly and clearly throughout this interview
Source
- Prizer, Timothy C. (Interviewer, Person)
- Photograph: Ralph Wilkerson, 2004 [JPG]
- Oral history interview with Ralph Wilkerson, February 22, 2004 [MP3 Audio File]
- Tape Log and Transcript: Oral history interview with Ralph Wilkerson, February 22, 2004 [PDF]
- Artist Data Sheet: Oral history interview with Ralph Wilkerson, February 22, 2004 [PDF]
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