Interviewer(s): J. Piekielek. Boothville, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I had met Flora Duncan the day before the interview, when the coordinator at Boothville Senior Center introduced me to her. We talked briefly and she agreed to do the interview. Although she seemed initially a little hesitant at our first meeting, Flora Duncan was more than happy to talk during the interview. Flora Duncan seemed much younger than many of the other folks at the Senior Center. She did not seem to find her position as one of the first women roustabouts in Plaquemines Parish for Gulf Oil Pipeline as especially remarkable.

Flora Duncan was born in 1937 in Boothville, where she graduated from high school and has lived her whole life. She worked a variety of service jobs, until in 1976 she began work as a roustabout for Gulf Oil Pipeline Company. She was the first woman to work in the oil fields for Gulf in Plaquemines Parish. She remained with the company, which merged with Chevron, until 1993, when knee problems forced her to retire.