Interviewer(s): Andrew Gardner; Jamie Christy

Affiliation: University of Arizona, University of Houston/History International

Red Adams is well known in and around Morgan City. He runs a company called Oil and Gas Rentals, and this company is one of the larger employers in town. He was quite willing to talk with me. Red has an office in his business complex in Amelia, alongside the bayou. We met there and talked for just under an hour. Red reviews some of what he perceives as the keys to managing a successful business in the oilpatch, as well as some of the ways that businesses can be good participants in community life. Red was interviewed by Andrew Gardner in 2002 and then again by Jamie Christy in 2004.

Red Adams was born and raised in Harvey, Louisiana, across the river from New Orleans, in 1933. He joined the Navy and spent five years there. After his discharge he began working in the oilfield as a contract laborer in Bay Marchand for the California Company in 1952. Red worked as a roustabout for 5 years, then roughnecked for a year in Bay Marchand, and worked his way up to gangpusher. He moved to Morgan City to work for Arnold Pipe Rental in 1958. After six years with Arnold Pipe Rental, Mr. Adams went to work for Drilling Tools, Inc. for three years. In 1967, Mr. Adams formed Oil and Gas Rental in 1967, which he still owns and operates. Oil and Gas Rentals grew from a handful of employees to 95 employees in 2002.