Murphy, George Washington, 2001 August 15

This is a Living History interview with George W. Murphy, class of 1934, conducted by Marilyn Somers on August 15, 2001 at his home in Columbus, Georgia. The subject is Mr. Murphy’s life and his experiences at Georgia Tech. Mr. Murphy was born in a mill town in Alabama. For four generations, his family had textile careers. When he came to Tech, he was only sixteen years old and was a lazy student. He joined a fraternity and had lots of fun in social activities. He had a heavy course load and his father sent him money to cover his expenses. In 1932, Mr. Murphy decided not to return to school. He got a job at his father’s textile plant and slowly worked his way up in the ranks. In 1936, Mr. Murphy married and became the supervisor of a small mill near Birmingham. Two years later, he had the opportunity to run a British-owned plant in Argentina. The Murphy’s moved to South America where they stayed until 1974. They now live in Columbus, Georgia and have two children and six grandchildren. Since his retirement, Mr. Murphy enjoys studying genealogy and learning about computers.