Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Lafayette, LA, Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I learned about Lillian Miller from Deborah Schultz and Kerry St. Pé at the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program. When I first contacted Lillian, she was unable to get together for an interview because she was taking care of both her father and her aunt who needed assistance. We exchanged many phone calls and had talked a number of times when we finally were able to arrange a meeting in October 2004. Lillian picked me up at the train station in Lafayette and we spent a day and a half there, talking about her experiences in the oilfield and looking at photos. She and I then traveled together to Houma to interview her father and also continued our interview.

Lillian was recognized by ODECO in 1974 as the first female roustabout to work offshore outside the galley in the Gulf of Mexico. She had begun working offshore in November 1973 as a galley hand for Offshore Foods and Services. Lillian was home from college trying to find a job and make enough money to go back to school. Her father, who had worked at McDermott since 1960 (see DA 126), came home one day and told her the catering company was hiring women. She wanted to show him that she was serious about trying to get a job, so she applied. She applied for the job and ended up going to the personnel office every day for a month until her father convinced a superintendent to give her a chance for at least one hitch. She was sent out on her first job with several other women and was the only one to survive the hitch. She overcame the challenges of working in a male-dominated environment and, due to her interest in drilling and mud engineering, she was encouraged to go back to school. She entered the petroleum technology program at Nicholls, working 7 days offshore and going to school during her 7 days at home. After a few weeks in the class, in 1974, she was hired by ODECO as their first female production roustabout. She graduated in 1977 with an associate's degree in petroleum technology. She advanced to gauger. Her career in the oilfield ended in 1981 when she suffered a serious fall trying to shut in a well.