Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Patterson, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Robert Shivers contacted John Ryan, a previous participant, and asked about getting in touch with me. I called him when I arrived in Morgan City, and after a brief discussion, we made arrangements to meet at his office in Patterson the next day. Robert is a transplanted Texan. He was talkative, informative, and had numerous photographs. Robert got started in the oilfield in Texas. He was born in Hull in 1929. His father built derricks for several oil companies. Robert began working in the oilfield in 1944 digging trenches for pipes. He moved to Louisiana in 1957 and got involved in home construction and real estate. As a result, the information directly concerning the oilfield is limited to his work in Texas. The remainder of the interview is of value for its perspective on Morgan City as a community, the history of its growth, the impact of the economic contractions upon the flow of labor and, ultimately, upon the real estate market.

Robert Shivers was born in Hull, Texas in 1929. His father built derricks for the Gulf Oil Company and later worked for the Sun Oil Company and for the Rio Bravo Oil Company. Robert stayed in Hull through the 11th grade of high school, and graduated in 1946. Then he went to the University of Texas, and finished in 1950. He began working in the oilfield in 1944 in Monroe City, Texas. Then in '52 he entered the Army. He got out in '54, and the oilfield was cutting back then. He built an office for a doctor and got into the home-building business. He moved to Morgan City, LA in 1957, and it was a boomtown then. They could use anybody with any kind of skill here. They'd send buses to Arkansas and other places just to find people to work. They needed houses by the dozen around here, so that's how he got into the business.