Interviewer: Jacob Campbell

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Mr. Aucoin was referred by Ronnie Rhodes, his co-worker from Unocal. We met at his house south of Houma on Bayou DuLarge. Mr. Aucoin farms vegetables, and has an orange and peach orchard on his sizable property. He was very generous, offering me fish and food from his land to take with me. He spoke at length about the problem of insurance for landowners in south Louisiana; in the last ten years his home has become increasingly difficult to insure. Mr. Aucoin offered insightful commentary on changes in labor regulations and relations in the oilfield through his careers.

Mr. Aucoin was born in Amelia, St. Mary Parish, in 1935, on a houseboat. His daddy was a fisherman and trapper as well as a tugboat skipper. Mr. Aucoin helped his father on his boat, and built cypress boxes to ship catfish when younger. In 1953, he hired on as deck crew on a tender for Kerr McGee. In ’56 he was drafted into the Army, and served for two years. After returning to south Louisiana, he started as roustabout for Unocal in 1959. He moved up the ranks, to operator, then production foreman, mostly working on inland lake wells, both oil and gas. In 1967, he became offshore superintendent, based out of Unocal’s Dulac office- in charge of production and transportation. He moved his family to live in Houma this same year. His last three years with Unocal were spent in industrial relations, working with personnel on insurance and benefits. He retired in 1992 and began farming.