>> Great. Well, thank you so much for agreeing
to do this oral history with the KSU archives.
We appreciate it. So we're
just going to go ahead and get started.
That's okay with you?
>> That's fine. And I'm
honored [NOISE] that you asked me to do this.
>> Great. Wonderful. Thank you so much.
So we'll just start off with just some basic information.
So what is your full name?
>> My full name is Joseph Lester Bozeman Junior.
>> And when and where were you born?
>> Well, most people think that I'm
a Kennesaw native, but I'm really not.
I was born in Charlotte,
North Carolina on October 8th, 1944.
My dad had been transferred to
Charlotte and I was born
while my family was living in Charlotte,
although my family's originally from Kennesaw.
>> I see. It's great to know.
So while we're talking about your family,
can you tell me a little bit about your parents,
and what their names were and
maybe a little bit about how they raised you.
>> My dad name was Joseph Lester Bozeman Senior?
I'm a junior named after him.
He was born in Kennesaw?
My mother's name was Sarah Skelton.
And she was also born in Kennesaw.
>> And so your early years growing up in Kennesaw,
did you remember, do you have any, great memories?
What did you do for entertainment?
Did you have a lot of friends?
>> People asked me what it was like
growing up in Kennesaw in the 1950s.
The best way I can describe it
is we had everything but money.
[LAUGHTER] Everyone was happy.
We didn't have a whole lot of money.
And what we did for entertainment,
we figured that out for ourselves.
We played Sandlot baseball,
Sandlot football, and things like that.
They were very few organized things to do in Kennesaw.
And did I have a lot of friends?
No, not really because they were
only about 500 people in Kennesaw.
[LAUGHTER] But we were all friends in Kennesaw.
>> I saw a picture,
I think in the images of
America Kennesaw book of you and some other kids that
were in some a store or some drug store or something.
Were there are certain stores that you all would go to.
>> [NOISE] Picture that you were referring
to was the local drug store.
>> Doctor Black and his wife,
Thelma on that and we would meet there every day
after school and eat hot dogs and drink cherry cups.
[LAUGHTER] The picture that you're
talking about is funny you mentioned that.
The boy standing next to me in
that picture is Butch Thompson.
He owns a company called Butch Thompson Enterprises.
It's a road paving company,
and he's smaller than CW Matthews,
but he owns quite a nice business now. [NOISE]
>> Oh, my goodness.
So was he from Kennesaw, too?
>> Yes. Grew up Oman Station Road.
>> Wow.
So did you ever go into
Atlanta at any point or did you
mainly stay in the Kennesaw area?
>> Well, my dad worked in
Atlanta for Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
So we would go to Atlanta
quite often and meet him to go out
to lunch or dinner or something like that or go to
a baseball game and went to Atlanta quite often.
>> So which school did you attend or which schools,
I guess, plural, did you attend growing up in Kennesaw?
>> In Kennesaw, I attended
the Elementary School, which is still there.
It's the Martha Moore. Building now.
[NOISE] I went there
from the first through the eighth grade
and then I went to Georgia Military Academy,
which is in College Park is called Woodward Academy now.
And then I went to North Georgia College,
which is in Dahlonega, Georgia.
>> And so you went to North Georgia.
What did you study at North Georgia?
>> Business Administration.
>> Business administration.
So since you went to Georgia Military Academy,
did you serve in the military at all?
>> No. I did not serve in the military.
I went to a military prep school,
which was Georgia Military Academy
and a military college.
But I suffered a severe injury to my right arm at
North Georgia College and I
was ineligible to serve in the military after that.
>> I see. So you got your degree in business.
What did you want to do with that?
>> I really didn't know.
I had planned on probably making the army my career.
And when I saw that was going to happen,
I went to work with Westinghouse Electric Corporation
too, like my dad.
>> So that was in Atlanta?
>> Yes.
>> How long were you working there?
>> I worked for Westinghouse for 17 years.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And after I'd been there 17 years,
they sold the division that I worked for to
the Dutch company called Phillips of the Netherlands
and I worked for Phillips for 13 years after that.
>> Were you still based here in Georgia?
>> Yes.
>> Did you enjoy the work?
>> I did. I enjoyed it a lot.
>> So since you and your father both worked in Atlanta,
I'm curious about the main source of
employment for people that were in Kennesaw,
was there like one type of industry
that a lot of people worked in here?
>> In the early 1950s,
there were two things to do in Kennesaw.
One was to work for the railroad and the other
was to work in work on a farm.
Most people worked for the railroad.
>> I see. So I
know I'm really interested in
your family's relationship with
the railroad if I'm not mistaken.
I think was it your great grandfather had it was he
a child during the great Locomotive Chase
if he witnessed something?
>> Yes. My great grandfather.
His name was James A Skelton.
He was the last surviving witness
of the stealing of the locomotive general.
He was a 14 year old boy and his father had been
killed in a railroad accident and left
his mother and several brothers and sisters.
He was the oldest.
He wanted to get
a job and help out his mother with the younger children.
So he had heard from train crews that came through
Kennesaw that there was
a job opening in Cartersville, Georgia.
Two jobs were open up there.
One was a fireman on a switch engine,
the other one was a water boy.
So he decided he would go to
Cartersville and apply for one of those jobs.
So he bought a round trip ticket to
Cartersville and boarded a locomotive or a train
that was stopped in Kennesaw on
a Saturday morning on April 12th, 1862.
He had no idea that he was witnessing history.
To quote him, I boarded
the train and I saw a passel of strangers walk by.
He said, I opened the window to see what was going on
and I felt them uncouple
the car that I was in from the rest of the train.
He said, all of a sudden,
the train took off and Captain Fuller,
Jeff Kane and Murphy ran out of the Laci hotel, said,
someone stole the train
and it disappeared going northbound.
I wish my great grandpa had ran
up the tracks with them and
chased it and make the story a whole lot better.
[LAUGHTER]
>> But still a really good story.
That's so interesting.
So did he pass
that story down or did he write it down at all?
>> He he passed it down.
And he was a honored guest
at the premiere of Gone with the Wind.
And in the Atlanta paper that article
is published in the Atlanta paper with a picture of
him also entering the premiere of Gone with the Wind.
So it's pretty well documented.
And he never He didn't get to Cartersville that day.
But he needed some money.
So he got the only job that was available.
He joined the Confederate Army.
>> Okay.
>> And at 14 years old,
he went into the Confederate Army. And that's young.
>> That they had to be it 16?
>> I understand they were
12 year old boys in the Army back then.
>> I believe it.
>> But my great grandpa,
he never served in combat.
But in my opinion,
he had worse duty than being in combat.
He was a prison guard at Andersonville prison,
the infamous Confederate prison
down at Andersonville, Georgia.
>> My goodness.
>> And I had personally rather been in
combat than guarding those union prisoners.
>> My goodness.
>> It had to have a effect on his life.
But I can't imagine when I
look at a 14 year old boy today.
And I think that my great grandfather
was in the Confederate Army and
a prison guard in
such a terrible place as Andersonville was.
>> My goodness. So I
imagine he didn't talk about that too much.
>> I never knew him really.
He died three years to the day before I was born.
But I don't know how much he talked about it.
I understand that he was a very grumpy old man.
And I can understand how he got so
bitter about having that in his childhood memories.
>> Sure. That makes a lot of sense.
So let's see.
I think I want to talk
about a little bit
of your involvement in Kennesaw when you got to be older.
Now, I want to make sure I have this right.
So I know that your dad you're named after your father.
Is there someone else there's
another Bozeman I'm thinking of. Is there like.
>> Talking about a real estate guy and a land developer?
Yes. He was my father's brother.
>> So he's your uncle. That's uncle he was really
involved and I guess in
the city politics and social scene.
>> Was never in politics.
He never ran for any offers but
he had a real estate company.
He was a house builder.
He was a developer.
He was the first one to do any developing in Kennesaw.
>> I see. Is that why there's like
a Bozeman Lake Road and all that stuff?
>> Well, my dad Bozeman Lake
is really named after my dad.
My dad bought 110 acres.
On what was called Shiloh Road back then,
is called Cherokee Street now.
My dad bought 110 acres up there in 1948 from
a old family that was selling their property.
And my dad built
a lake on that property and two years later,
which was called Bozeman Lake
and which is now part of Pine Tree Country Club.
>> I see. So are there any other examples of,
I guess, pieces of land named after
your family in the area? Really?
>> You ever heard of Giles Road?
Yeah. My great grandfather
Giles owned the land where Swift Control Park is.
And most of the big subdivision over there.
I can't think of it now.
Legacy Park. My great grandfather
owned all that land from where
Swift Control Park is over to
the railroad track there on Moon Station Road.
>> My goodness. I had no idea about that.
>> We sold all that land way too early.
If we have waited before it would have gotten valuable.
And my stepfather,
I guess he's part of my family.
His name was Steve Frey.
>> No way.
>> He owned where I'm sitting today.
>> Oh my goodness. I have
no idea you had that connection too.
>> Now, that's my stepfather.
And his property, which is where
Kennesaw State University is today.
I joined our property at Pine Tree Country Club.
So I grew up adjacent to where farm was,
it was owned by my future stepfather
after my dad passed away about years later?
>> Oh, wow. That is so interesting.
So speaking of Kennesaw Junior College
and Kennesaw State University,
because you remember, I'm sure,
when Kennesaw Junior College came into being,
how did it affect the city of Kennesaw?
Were you all excited about it?
>> When they first built Kennesaw Junior College,
I think people were excited about it because it
was going to give
kids around here an opportunity to go to college,
and it would be less
expensive to go to the junior college and go
off to regular four year college.
It didn't have much effect for several years.
The thing I remember most about it was kids were coming
here getting a good education
and it wasn't a party school.
And in fact, it was probably
pretty boring to go to Kennesaw Junior College?
I don't remember.
I never had any affiliation with going to school here,
I went to North Georgia.
And I was out of North Georgia about the same time that
they finished Kennesaw Junior College?
>> That makes sense. I did hear that it was
more but you went to class and you went home.
It wasn't like, at first,
a ton of things to do.
>> I don't think there was anything
to do here [LAUGHTER].
>> To do on campus really other than go to college.
>> That's about it.
>> Exactly. So I guess,
do you have many remembrances of
the property before it became Kennesaw Junior College,
did you know that like,
did you often did you frequent
the property because it it was close to.
>> Steve Frey's farm.
Which is where we are today our farm adjoining.
>> That's right.
>> And my dad had
a lake which is which is called Bozeman Lake.
And Mr. Frey had a lake,
it's called Frey Lake.
And they were on the same stream.
His lake was downstream from hours.
And I fished in his lake several times and I would
hunt on his land quite often
to squirrel hunt or rabbit hunt.
There wasn't anything to do around here then.
It was just woods and fields.
>> That make sense.
So we'll move on to more in the 80s.
I know a lot of people even to this day
associate Kennesaw with the gun law
that was passed in 1982.
So can you talk a little bit about,
if you know, how this law
came into being and how people reacted to that?
>> First of all, let me tell you.
I own 38 firearms. [LAUGHTER].
>> You do?
>> Yes. I'm opposed to the gun law.
>> You are?
>> Yes. I honestly believe that the second amendment to
the Constitution guarantees us the right to own firearms.
I also feel that guarantees us the right not to own one.
And for them to make a law that
says you have to own a firearm,
I think it's plain ridiculous.
Now I'm going to give a little personal opinion
here about the gun law.
>> Sure.
>> There was and I don't ever hear this talked about,
but I remember it vividly.
There was a mayor of Kennesaw at the time.
His name was Darvin Ray Purdy P-U R-D-Y, I believe.
He had great expectations of becoming
a officer in
the National Rifle Association and nationwide officer.
I think he pushed that law through under the disguise of
maybe this would give him a nomination to
a high position within NRA?
I oppose the gun law.
If they want to do away with it, it suits me.
If they want to keep it, it suits me too.
It really doesn't bother me.
And I feel most people in this town
feel the same way and felt the same way all the time.
>> So were there certain people who
supported it and certain people who opposed it,
or was this just kind of.
>> In Kennesaw it really wasn't that big of a deal.
It was a bigger deal
everywhere else than it was Kennesaw.
I remember that a couple of people really opposed it,
and a couple really wanted it,
but I don't think it was really that
big of a deal inside Kennesaw City limits.
>> That makes sense. It's very interesting.
I always wondered about that.
>> I think it was a political move.
>> Probably. So what
I really want to we're
getting to the end of our questions,
but I really want to talk about
now is your involvement in
Kennesaw history and how active you've been in that.
So do you know who started
the Kennesaw Historical society?
>> Kennesaw Historical Society,
originally it was called
the Big Shanty Historical Society.
And they started that back in
the 1960s when we were trying to get
the locomotive general down here and
a place to display it.
That's when it was started.
We got the general here and
the Big Shanty historical society went away for a while.
Fellow named Robert Jones got
the Kennesaw historical society going again.
Robert's out of it now.
And I'm the president of it,
but I'm not doing
a very good job because
Kennesaw historical society is not growing.
The thing that I'm proudest of
is Andrew Bramlett and his family.
They're carrying the ball
in the Kennesaw historical society now.
>> I think you're doing a very good job
as President though still,
actually I've been talking to Louis,
so we've got some really interesting things planned.
>> Good.
>> I'm hoping, I probably should
come to one of you all's
meetings and talk about some of
the things we're planning for this upcoming.
>> Please do.
>> We've got some really cool stuff
planning, it'll be fun.
I guess, in your own words,
what is the society's main goal right now?
>> To [NOISE] educate
people about the history of Kennesaw
and to try to
save the historical things
in Kennesaw that are still there.
>> Sure.
>> Now, I'm also on
the Kennesaw historical Preservation Commission.
Now, that's an arm of the city government.
We can make things happen.
I try to weigh things.
I believe in individual rights, also,
and I really don't think the government has
the right to tell you this
is what you're going to do with your property.
But if you own a piece of historical property,
I do my best to work to save that
without dictating to them
what you're going to have to do with your property.
>> That's a really.
That's a great balance to [OVERLAPPING].
>> It's hard to balance.
>> It's very hard. I know.
So does that commission,
is it mainly just deal with property,
or does it also deal with
records or documents of any type, historical documents?
>> It really honestly only deals with property right now.
>> That makes sense.
So what makes you passionate
about the history of Kennesaw?
>> Well, my family's been here since the 1830s.
[LAUGHTER] And I feel that I'm really a part of it.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> I love trains.
Trains are part of Kennesaw history.
Sounds weird, but I love the Civil War.
And when I say I love the Civil War,
I don't like the killing part of it I just
like to study the Civil War.
>> Oh, I completely understand that.
I as an archivist,
I love war archives.
It sounds again, very strange.
But the letters, the photographs,
the records, I can't get me of it.
>> I'm the same way.
Sometimes I'm in my office crying and no one knows why,
but it's because I've I've encountered some type
of record that from the war, it's fascinating.
I totally understand very fascinating.
And every war was so different.
But Civil War is very,
very complicated and interesting.
So I guess I'd
also like to know about the images of America,
the Kennesaw history book that
you did with some other people.
That was a great accomplishment. How long did that take?
>> It took us about six months to do that.
Sally Loy, who was the archivist over at Kennesaw Museum.
She and Robert Jones and I put that together.
The most difficult thing for about it for me was
is my family has been here so
long and my family
has a lot of old pictures and old records.
And back then, we didn't take scenery pictures.
We took pictures of people.
>> Sure.
>> And luckily, some
historic things in the background of those pictures.
But we got about a month away from publishing that book,
and I told Robert and Sally I said,
We're not publishing this book like this.
This looks like a Bosman Skeleton
Giles family photograph album.
There's got to be some more people participate in this,
or I'm pulling all my stuff.
This is not going to be an advertisement for my family.
Luckily, my mother got some people to participate in it.
I was not totally satisfied with that book.
And I wish that we would
and I think we will with the help of the Bramlett family.
I think we'll do another book.
>> Can I be involved?
>> Of course you can.
>> I volunteer myself.
>> We would appreciate you being involved.
>> That would be so much fun.
>> The picture on that book on the cover,
I did not like it.
>> I didn't like it.
>> Have you ever seen the book images
of America Cobb County?
>> Yes. I can't remember the cover of it, though.
>> It's a picture of the locomotive general
with about 10,000 people standing in downtown.
That should have been our cover.
And Marie and Cobb County's cover should have
been the old Cobb County courthouse.
>> So who was in this photo of this one?
>> The lady in the middle is a lady named Betty Allison,
very good friend of my family.
And I don't think the picture
really does have book Justice.
>> That makes complete sense.
It's still a great book, but
I totally understand what you mean though.
>> And they've they've slipped a few pictures in
there that I didn't want in there.
And one of them is
a lifeguard standing on
a diving board at Pine Tree Country Club.
I didn't want that one in there.
>> Yes, but that's okay.
>> I guess that happens in books sometimes.
That's all right, though.
>> That was a 16-year-old boy,
but lifeguard and they slipped that in.
I didn't want that picture in there.
>> I understand that.
>> Although, I looked pretty cute.
>> Did you enjoy being a lifeguard?
>> Yeah. I loved it. It was
really I say the most fun job I've ever had.
>> Not bad.
>> I talked to a lot of girls.
Get a good suntan.
And it's not all
fun because when you're
not sitting on that lifeguard stand,
you're mixing chemicals and you're
cleaning the pool and things like that.
>> So not so fun.
>> Not for fun, but I enjoyed being a lifeguard.
>> Did you make good money?
>> I think I made $1 an hour.
Well, it pretty good in 1961. Wasn't bad.
>> That's good.
>> Well, just our last little question.
It's an open ended question.
You can take it wherever you like.
But there's two parts.
What are the biggest changes
you've seen in Kennesaw since
you were young and what changes would you like to see?
>> The changes that I have seen since I was
young was when I was a kid,
there were 500 people in this town.
Now there's about 30,000.
I used to know everybody.
Now, I'll go downtown,
I don't know anybody.
And my southern drawl sounds funny on the street now.
But that's okay.
I would like to see us in
downtown Kennesaw in the historic district, I'll say.
I would like to see it
retain the old atmosphere
rather than trying to change everything.
I think we have entirely too
many apartments in this town.
And I think it's going to turn out to be a bad thing.
>> That makes sense because it's changing a lot.
>> Changing a lot.
>> But I love that that's why we're preserving history.
Make sure that we remember
where we came from, how we started.
>> I'm going to take you up on writing that book.
>> I'm fascinated by the history of Kennesaw.
I did not grow up here.
I'm from Connecticut, but I lived mostly in Al Faretta,
and so it's been really interesting
to get to know Kennesaw and its history.
So I can't believe we're already done,
but I really appreciate you talking with me today.
>> Well, I'm glad to do it.
It was a wonderful time growing up here.
It was like living in maybe RFD.
And like I said, we had everything but money.
>> I love that. That's my favorite quote.
Thank you so much though.