Interviewer(s): Lois Boutte; Diane Austin. New Iberia, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Rose and Warren "Chuck" Joseph had participated in the 1998-1999 study of the impacts of the offshore oil and gas industry on individuals and families in New Iberia and Morgan City. I called Rose in July to tell her about the history study, and she had me call Chuck at his job at the funeral home. He was interested in participating in the study, and we arranged for me to stop by his house to talk more. I spent an evening with Rose and Chuck as they discussed the industry and its impacts on their family and on the black community in New Iberia. They suggested several other people who should be included in the study, and we agreed that I would return later for a formal interview. I contacted the Josephs in September, but between the hurricane and their niece's campaign for district judge, they were too busy for an interview. I contacted them again in November, and we set up the interview. Though Chuck is officially retired, he works part time at the funeral home and also prepares rolled turkeys. When I arrived at their house, he was working to finish an order for a couple who were coming by that evening. Rose and I sat in the living room and he joined us later in the evening. Ellen Placide, one of the teacher researchers working on the project, joined us shortly after we began.

Rose and Chuck are from New Iberia. They knew each other in high school and married when Rose returned to New Iberia after finishing teacher's college. She worked for the school district for 31 years. When he first started out, Chuck went to the barber's college, and he opened up a shop in New Iberia. In 1965, he began trying to get a job in the oilfield and, in 1971, when Texaco started hiring blacks, he was offered a job. For the next 15 years, he worked for Texaco and continued to work at the barbershop in his time off. He started with Texaco at the lowest level and worked his way up to gas lift operator. During the cutbacks of the late 1980s, he was bumped back several times and then forced to take early retirement.