Interviewer: Jacob Campbell

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Mr. Ellzey was referred by Jerome Meringue during the History II study, but was never contacted. He is a retired high school teacher, an amateur historian and writes a column for the Houma Courier. Mr. Ellzey took great interest in this project, and has provided support by describing it in his column, inviting community members to participate. Subsequent columns have followed up on the project, providing updates and more detailed information to potential participants. He also directed me to relevant library resources, and provided me with a number of contacts. He will be a valuable ally. We met at the main Terrebonne Parish library for this interview.

Bill was born in 1943, on a military base in Florida where his father was stationed. The family was from north Louisiana, and returned there after the service. After dropping out of LSU, he moved to Houma in 1964 to work offshore but hurricane Hilda struck and shut down the oilfield. While waiting for operations to resume, he took a job as substitute teacher, then began working as a reporter for the Houma Courier newspaper. After two years with the paper, he began teaching in the Houma school system, which lasted 20 years. Then he wrote news for a local radio station, and later conducted historical research for a local utility company. Now retired, he writes two columns each week on history related themes for the Courier.