Scope and Contents interviewer : Daniel AltProject : University of HoustonDaniel Alt interviews Rick Ferguson who discusses the Houston Film Commission, the film industry in Houston, and some of the films that have been shot in the city. Ferguson explains the economics of the film industry in Texas, including the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which currently offers filmmakers an incentive rate of 5-20% plus a grant for filming within the state. This includes a mention...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: When UH’s Center for Public History and the University Libraries collaborated to create the Houston History Archives (UH-HHA), part of their mission included a repository for oral histories that tell stories of the growth and development of the Gulf Coast region from multiple points of view. To that end, the Houston Oral History Project in the Center for Public History trains history graduate students to research and interview Houstonians with recollections of the city’s civil rights,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaPreetam had first met Matthew Shelley when he had travelled to Philadelphia, MS to speak with some instructors and other individuals involved in a workforce development program associated with East Mississippi Community College located on the Choctaw reservation. Matthew was working as an electrical instructor at the program at the time. Matthew grew up in Scott County, MS when it was still heavily rural...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaAn individual in my yoga class knows Ron Schnoor and said he would tell him about our study. He did, and Mr. Schnoor said I could contact him. I was able to arrange to meet him and conducted this interview.Mr. Schnoor is the chief operating officer of Signal International in Mississippi and Texas. He began his career with Brown & Root, and went to work for Ham Marine in 1984 as a project...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaPreetam contacted James Waller after interviewing Larry Pickens, who suggested that he was another Wayne County resident who had worked on the production side of things who might be willing to participate in the study. James had been born in Waynesboro, but had moved around quite a bit as a child due to his father being in the military. James had initially gone into seismic work in the 1970s shortly after...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Jacob CampbellAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. Porche was referred by Peanut Crochet during the History II study, but had refused to be interviewed at that time. With some persistence, he agreed to meet at his house in east Houma, where his wife served me coffee. She also made several comments during the interview. Mr. Porche spent his entire career with Texaco, and continues to keep up with his friends from the company, such as Burleigh Ruiz, who...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaBobby Jones, the director of the Wayne County Vo-Tech Center, had initially recommended that Preetam speak with Larry Pickens. Bobby mentioned Larry as someone who was quite heavily involved with younger people in the area. Preetam and Larry arranged to meet at the latter’s house in Waynesboro. Larry had gone to college after high school and obtained a degree in education, and had then joined the US Army....

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaI had been invited to visit the Slavonian Lodge in Biloxi by one of their members, PP600, after I had expressed my interest in local ethnic and industrial history when we spoke over the phone. PP600 introduced me to several members of the Lodge. One of those present with whom PP600 thought that it would be good for me to speak was Mr. Sekul. PP600 described Mr. Sekul as one of the last members of the lodge...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaI had met Anna last summer at Steiner's Shipyard, she was very helpful getting me in to talk to people and giving me photocopies of articles on the shipyard and other information. Since getting back in the area this spring I had been trying to interview her on her own, which was made more difficult since she had retired in the interim. We had made an earlier appointment, but she wasn't feeling well that...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Kelly McLainAffiliation: University of ArizonaMs. Inez Thomas is the owner and operator of Inez’s Café in Biloxi, Mississippi. Every person in the community suggested that she would be an important resource for information. I stopped by a few days earlier with PP to introduce myself. Ms. Thomas agreed to sit down with me on another day after the lunch hour. I arrived the day of our interview and ordered the daily special, fried chicken with a side of red...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Laura EkAffiliation: University of ArizonaI met Steve Anderson while mapping the oil center back in September with Lillian Miller. Mr. Anderson seemed interested and open to talking and I said we’d set something up when I returned the following November.Mr. Anderson is originally from Michigan. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in geophysical engineering in 1975. He got a job right away, which he attributes to the major boom in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam Prakash and Clenistine FortuneAffiliation: University of ArizonaClenistine and I had been speaking for a few weeks about conducting an oral history interview with a friend of hers who lived in the area. We finally arranged to meet with Mr. Arnold at his home in Gulfport. When we arrived at the house, Mr. Arnold was not present, and it turned out that he was over at his mother’s house, located nearby. We met and spoke with Mr. Arnold in the living...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Jacob CampbellAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. 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...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Laura EkAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Bill Bacque by Kim and William Goodell. The Goodell’s referred me to him as an authority on real estate in the Lafayette and surrounding parishes during the 1980s. I called him and explained the project and we set up an interview at his office.Bill Bacque is currently the CEO for Van Eaton & Romero real estate, a position he has held since 1987. He graduated from high school and...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Jacob CampbellAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. Neil was referred by David Smith. Mr. Neil spent much of his career with Texaco, and provided valuable information on Nichols State’s 7 and 7 petroleum engineering program, which he completed while working. He agreed to meet me at his office in the Tetra Applied Technologies main building south of Houma.Mr. Neil was born in Chauvin in 1947. His father worked for Texaco. In 1968, he started...