Interviewer(s): R. Higgins. Morgan City, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Roussell Ruffin's name was one of three that Raymond Morrison had given me. Raymond's name was one among several that Julie Delaune gave me when I asked her about Black men who worked for McDermott in the company's early years. Roussell worked in fabrication in the 1950s and 60s. He currently owns a couple of tractor-trailers that work primarily in the oil industry. His office is an old, well-worn mobile home at the southern most end of Federal. Inside, there are a couple desks, a couch and lots of coffee. He was friendly and enjoyed talking.

Roussell was born in Siracusaville in 1929. He talked at length about what it meant for him to grow up as a Black child. He graduated from Morgan City Colored High School in 1946. He was captain of the basketball team that year. After high school, Roussell worked in the cane fields and then as a crane operator in the local lumberyard. In 1961 he went to work as a crane operator for Brown and Root.