Interviewer: Victoria Phaneuf

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I had met Mr. and Mrs. McRoy earlier in the spring at the Historical Society booth at the Blessing of the Fleet. We made arrangements to meet at the historical society museum for an oral history interview. They were just pulling up when I arrived, they're both older, slight, with gray hair. The historical society museum is a historic house just outside of town. It's set back a little from the road, with oak and bushes shielding it slightly from 188. The back two rooms are packed full of stuff, including an old cash register that used to be at one of the drug stores downtown. They started talking almost immediately after I met them, it took a bit to get them to listen to what I had to say long enough to get them to sign the OH forms. In the meantime they told me that Irvington was founded by citrus industry workers, then at the turn of the [last] century there was a big freeze and a white-fly infestation that killed the trees. After that they raised tongue oil. They think I should read “Whistling women crowing hens” by Julien Rappaport, he's dead now. He was a Joe Cane supporter. The book is a collection of stories and tales from the Bayou. It's been out of print since the 50s.