Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Morgan City, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I was referred to Barbara Stansbury by her neighbor, Jerry Cunningham. Barbara's first husband died after they were married only five years. Both he and her second husband worked for the oil and gas industry, and Barbara spent her life managing a large household within the constraints of her husbands' work schedules and needs.

Barbara Ross Stansbury was born in Berwick and moved to Morgan City when she was about seven years old. Barbara married Merlin Boudreaux in 1948, and they had two children. Merlin began working offshore for Mobil Oil in the mid-1940s and stayed in that job until he was killed in an automobile accident with his sister in 1953. Barbara married her brother-in-law, and together they raised five children. Her second husband was a surveyor for Humble Oil Company. Barbara raised her children and took charge of household responsibilities during the decades when the offshore oil industry was flourishing in southern Louisiana.