Bridges, William Russell, Jr., 2006 January 20

This is a Living History interview with William Bridges Jr., class of 1952, conducted by Marilyn Somers on January 20, 2006 at his office at Capitol Cadillac in Marietta, Georgia. The subject is the interviewee’s life, and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Bridges was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 6, 1929. His parents met while his mother was going to the business school for which Mr. Bridges’ father was a recruiter. Mr. Bridges went to S.M. Inman Grammar School, Bass Junior High School, Boys’ High School, and Tech High School. He liked to spend a lot of time in Ponce de Leon Park and watch the Atlanta Crackers play. Mr. Bridges had a paper route as a boy. He remembers World War II and where he was on the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Mr. Bridges was very athletic in high school and played football, baseball, and basketball, as well as ran track. He was in a social fraternity in high school and would go to dances on the weekends. Mr. Bridges also ran track at Tech. He chose to go to Tech because he could not afford to go out of state for college. Mr. Bridges joined the Chi Phi fraternity at Tech. He got a summer job at Capitol Automobile after his freshman year at Tech. His boss liked him and wanted him to keep working throughout the school year so Mr. Bridges transferred to Georgia State University to be closer to work. Mr. Bridges worked his way up through the company and eventually bought it. His boss had been a pioneer in the automobile dealership industry. Mr. Bridges decided to move the dealership location out to Marietta, Georgia. He has seen many changes in the automobile industry as well as in Atlanta. He has five children and twelve grandchildren. His sons work at the dealership. Mr. Bridges has sold cars to Howard Candler and Senator Ivan Allen Jr. Mr. Bridges has had a fortunate life.