Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Morgan City, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Clarence Duplantis was recommended to me by Jerry Cunningham, one of the teacher-researchers in Morgan City. Jerry grew up next door to the Duplantis family, and they've been friends for a lifetime. His experience in the oilfield is not extensive - he spent most of his career in the grocery business - but he did dabble in fabrication for a bit in the 40's and 50's. Because of this, much of the interview is focused more on community issues in general, and less upon the oilfield specifically. We spend a bit of time talking about the Jimmy Stewart movie filmed in Morgan City, and then discuss the rest of his career in the grocery business. He did send his son into the oil industry, and he also describes some of the impacts of the oil boom on Morgan City - there's a story about how people had to live in big pieces of pipe back in the early days because there was nowhere to sleep.

Clarence was born in Vermillion Parish but relocated to the Morgan City area as a boy. His father was employed by the contractor building the highway and then took a job with the Texas Company. After high school, Clarence opened a little coffee shop downtown, and then he opened a grocery store. In the 40's, he moved to the shipyards operated by Chicago Bridge and Iron and built drydocks. He worked in the shipyards and for a contractor building tanks for Magnolia and then for McDermott, but he left fabrication because of concerns about the working conditions. His health forced a decision to leave.