Interviewer(s): A. G. Emily Bernier. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I got in touch with Melvin Lirette through Burleigh Ruiz. He worked with Melvin's brother Bill for many years. Burleigh called Bill who said that he thought it would be a good idea for him to be present for the interview. Burleigh was going to come along as well but ended up having plans on the day that the first interview was scheduled. I drove up to a modest, yellow house with a boat parked out back to find Melvin sitting on the front porch waiting for me. Melvin is the oldest of my interviewees thus far, and has one of the best memories. The first CD of the first interview was lost due to battery trouble. The second CD sounds good and still has a lot of good information on it. The second interview also consists of two CD's, both of which are clear but difficult to decipher in some parts. The second interview deals mainly with clarifying information from the first interview. Melvin swears like a sailor, still doesn't take any crap from anyone, and is one of the kindest people I've met. He can still remember names and block numbers of some of the rigs he worked on and tells stories as if they happened yesterday. Melvin talks extensively about unionizing as well as some of the "bad" times in the oil field during the 50's.

Melvin was born in 1910, began the oil field in 1929 and retired in 1975. He was 91 years old at the time of the interview. He began work in the oil field at age 19 in 1929. He began with Abercrombie as a contract worker but then was hired as a regular hand by Texaco, or "The Texas Company," as he knew it most of his life. He worked as a driller for 46 years and retired in 1975. He comes from the generation of people who didn't have any education except for life itself. During the interview he said several times that the best measure of a man was how hard they worked. He retired during the boom era and got a good retirement plan.

Bill Lirette is Melvin's younger brother. He was born in 1919, began in the oil field in 1949 and retired in 1983. He is only 85 years old and worked for Texaco his whole life as a mud engineer. The first interview does not have a lot of information about Bill on it. The second interview has extensive information about mud engineering, including, but not limited to, the different weights of the mud, the pipes, wires and machines associated with mud engineering and the amount of school/training necessary to be a mud engineer. He is a jovial guy who obviously loves his brother (he calls him Old Man) very much. He tells stories; they almost come off as legends, about Melvin's antics in the industry as well as how respected he was by the men who worked under him as well as the bosses. Bill is a very opinionated man who is not afraid to tell you what he's thinking.

Wayne Lirette is Melvin's son who also retired from the oil industry. He retired in 1998 from Texaco. He worked as a compressor mechanic for most of his career. The first interview second CD has a lot of Wayne's opinions about unions, blacks and environmental regulations. Wayne was not present for the second interview.