Interviewer: Laura Ek

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I was referred to Sally Ware when I was in Lafayette last fall. She has worked for LAGCOE (Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition) since 1980 as their primary employee. The trade-show runs every other year in the fall, and she is in charge of setting it up and coordinating the event.

Sally Ware is originally from Duncan, Oklahoma. In the 1940s, her family moved here because her father was in the oil business. She graduated high school in 1962. She said there were several occasions when they moved away from Lafayette when the industry wasn’t doing well, but after she came back for college at ULL (graduating in 1967) she decided to make Lafayette her permanent home. She worked for Superior Oil Company beginning in 1967, and then moved on to Lion’s petroleum (an independent exploration company) where she worked for 10 years.

In the interview, she discusses what LAGCOE is, what they do to promote it as well as what it means to have it in the Lafayette community. She speaks about the community of Lafayette and how it has changed over the years, in particular the oil center, and the Petroleum Club. She also describes the work she did for the oil companies she worked for, and how she got into the job. She also talks about why she enjoys living in Lafayette and what she likes about her job.