Ivey, James Rawls, Jr., 2004 November 10

This is a Living History interview with James Ivey, class of 1949, conducted by Marilyn Somers on November 10, 2004 at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. The subject is the interviewee’s life, and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Ivey was born on January 17, 1922 in Milner, Georgia. His grandfather was a farmer. His father was an insurance salesman. Mr. Ivey lived in Milner until he was nineteen years old. The graduating class from his high school was about twenty students. Even though Mr. Ivey grew up during the depression, his family always had something to eat. His father grew enough crops on their farm to feed the family. After high school, Mr. Ivey attended Gordon Military College in Barnesville, Georgia. Mr. Ivey was the number two best student in the class, but could not get a scholarship to Annapolis Point because he was colorblind. Mr. Ivey decided that he wanted to go to Georgia Tech after that. He followed the football team and had been to Atlanta several times. Mr. Ivey enrolled as a Co-op student. While Co-oping he worked at a sewage disposal plant in the city. He drove trucks and did odd jobs around the plant. He was working at the plant when Pearl Harbor was bombed. After two years at Tech, Mr. Ivey went into service. He did rather well academically his sophomore year. He was a great fan of football and would occasionally shoot pool with Clint Castleberry. In the spring of 1943 Mr. Ivey was sent to Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Mr. Ivey was a chauffer while he was in training. He went to bomb disposal school which was a dicey job. Mr. Ivey was the officer of six men in an ammunitions disposal group. After completing his training he went to Finch Haven, New Guinea. There he disposed of deteriorating to malfunctioning ammunitions. After working for several months, they moved to the Lingayen Gulf. Mr. Ivey worked cleaning up ammunitions. He would come into battle fields right after the fight to clean up. When he came home from his service, he was a different man. HE went back to tech. He does not remember women in the classroom, but does remember several professors. Dr. Bortell was one of Mr. Ivey’s favorite. Mr. Ivey got married to a woman name Charlotte. They lived together in an apartment in Little Five Points. MR. Ivey’s first job was with American Bridge Company. He then went to work as an engineer in Memphis. Mr. Ivey moved back to Atlanta and worked several jobs until he settled down with Atlantic Steel. Mr. Ivey has three children and is very happy.