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

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I sat with Kenneth Viator and his wife for over an hour. We had met at the Shell Pensioner's club meeting, where Jimmy Hebert made sure I had everyone's phone number. Kenny was happy to meet with me - I could tell he was excited the minute I came in. We had a great time. Kenneth was able to vividly describe his memories of the oilfield. He was also a very friendly man. His wife participated in the interview as well, offering comments here and there on the recording. He had a small collection of photographs, and I returned for a second interview later in the summer.

Kenneth Viator entered the industry in 1958 or so. He grew up in Delcambre. It was a different place back then. He talks about all the traditional livelihoods in the region - shrimping, salt mines, some oil industry, and a lot of mom and pop stores around. He talks about his perceptions of the oil industry as a young man, the crew boats, and the strike at the salt mine. He began working on the crew boats for a contractor, and was eventually able to get on a contractor roustabout crew. Later he got on with Shell, and he worked some drilling but eventually shifted to production in 1967. He worked mostly as an operator, but just before retirement in the 90's he advanced to maintenance leader.