Bethune, George Roy, 2003 November 25

This is a Living History Interview with George R. Bethune, class of 1937, conducted by Marilyn Somers on November 25, 2003 at his home in Milton, Florida. The subject of the interview is Mr. Bethune’s life and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Bethune was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in the year 1914. His legal name is George Raymond Bethune, but the landlady at the boarding house his parents were living in, felt that the name was too long. She gave Mr. Bethune the name Bill. The name stuck with Mr. Bethune until he went to High School. Mr. Bethune’s father was a salesman. He worked for several companies and would travel all around North Georgia selling products. Mr. Bethune says that his father had tough jobs, but he always had a job. Mr. Bethune had a younger brother. Their mother raised them both. Mr. Bethune remembers moving several times with his father’s work until they settled into Macon for his High School Carrier. Mr. Bethune attended Lanier High School and remembers it being a good school. While in high school, Mr. Bethune participated in Baseball and Football teams. He decided to come to Georgia Tech because of a gut instinct. He felt like it would match his personality. The depression was hitting his family hard. He did not think that he would be able to come up with the one hundred dollars he would need to start school. Ironically, his mother won 50 dollars in a give away by a local dry cleaning company. His family scraped together an additional 50 dollars, and Sent Mr. Bethune to school. Mr. Bethune lived with his Aunt and Uncle in little five points and took a street car or walked to campus everyday. He was in the Co-op program, and spent his first semester of work at Scholdfield Iron Works. Mr. Bethune did not like the job too much, so for his next semester of work, he worked in a Goodyear plant. He was making 25 cents an hour and working 60-hour weeks. Mr. Bethune enjoyed his time at Goodyear. Mr. Bethune was in the reserves. He was called into duty in 1940. Before he was sent home, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Because of the attack, he was enlisted for an additional 4 years. Mr. Bethune was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Mr. Bethune then went up to New York to a base called Fort Jay. Mr. Bethune then ended his service in Honolulu. Upon returning home, Mr. Bethune started working for Goodyear. He met a girl named Ruth Gaines and Married her. Mr. Bethune has three children all of whom are grown. He is very proud of them all. Mr. Bethune retired in 1968. He stays active by playing tennis and croquet. He is also involved in online stock trading.