Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Bourg, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaThe interview with Click was a long time in the making. F.J. Matherne and I had become friends since my interview with him in July of 2001. Since that time, he had been wanting me to contact his good friend, Click Arcenaux. I tried for 3 months and had all but given up when F.J. said he'd call for me. Click and his wife, Betty, were happy to be interviewed, and were apologetic that it had taken...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Boothville, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaBud Latham and Sam Pizzolato both recommended Earl Armstrong, a cattleman born in 1944 down at Pilot Town, now living in Boothville. I hooked up with Earl at the Fill-A-Sack convenience store in Boothville, as arranged, and we went next door to the house his father keeps when he's not down in Pilot Town. Earl himself owns a house, barn, and pasture across the highway. Dressed in cowboy hat and...

Scope and Contents Audio Only.Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalKen Arnold worked for Shell Oil Company from the 1960's to the 1980's. He is now CEO of Paragon Engineering Services in Houston. Arnold got into the oil field in 1964. He graduated from Cornell with a degree in civil engineering and went to work for Shell in New Orleans. From there, he was transferred to the head office in New York City where he...

Scope and Contents Audio Only.Interviewer(s): J. Christy. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalLeonard Aucoin was born in Little Bayou Long, Louisiana in 1927 as the son of a fisherman / shrimper. Mr. Aucoin worked on a dredge boat, as a dishwasher on a houseboat, as a deckhand, and then as an oiler. He went to work for Sun Oil in 1946 at age 19. Mr. Aucoin was most often working with seismic crews and he traveled with them all over Texas...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin, New Orleans, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Buddy Ayers by Leslie Learney of the Historic Diving Society (HDS). I was talking with Leslie at the HDS booth at the Underwater Intervention conference, and he suggested that Buddy would be a good person to talk to about the history of diving offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Buddy was also at the conference, and when he came over to the booth Leslie introduced us. We went and...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI first met Eddie at the Halliburton Retirees' Breakfast in Houma. I met Eddie and his wife, Marie, at their house for the interview. Marie had some things to say about being on her own while Eddie was offshore. Our second discussion also covered the activities involved in drilling, and the situation for women onshore. After retiring at age 50, Eddie served as a truck-driving instructor....

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Galliano, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaAfter my interview with Butch Renois, Butch went over to visit with Martial Babin, an 80-year old Chevron retiree who lives on the east side of the bayou. Butch called me at the motel to say that Mr. Babin had agreed to talk to me. Mr. Babin was Butch Renois' former boss for part of their time with the Chevron operation out of Leeville. Martial's second wife passed away in 2001; at one point in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(S): T. Priest. Dallas, TXAffiliation: University of ArizonaMilo Backus is largely credited with being the father of 3-D seismology. Longtime head of research at Geophysical Services, Inc., he masterminded the creation and application of many digital signal processing techniques in the 1950s. He developed the concepts behind deconvolution in the changeover to digital technology, and led the development and promotion of the practical application of 3-D...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaP.T. is Dub Noble's brother-in-law. He owns Bailey's Basin Seafood in Morgan City. It was brought to my attention that P.T. had been interviewed for the previous project, mainly about his business and the regulations that were affecting small business owners in the area during the 1980's. I had Tom McGuire look at the previous interview to pick out topics I needed to discuss further. My...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. P. Theriot. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalJim Baker is a retired Houston port captain for Lykes Brothers. A native of West Virginia, Baker is a graduate of King's Point U.S. Merchant Academy (1949). As a cadet, he traveled throughout the Caribbean and West Indies aboard ship for several years before landing a job with Lykes Brothers. His career with the steamship line spans nearly three decades. His positions...

Scope and Contents Audio Only.Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalGene Bankston grew up in Southeast Oklahoma. After serving in World War II as a B-17 gunner he studied petroleum engineering at the University of Oklahoma, earning his degree in 1949. He began working for Shell that same year and quickly rose through Shell's ranks. He worked towards economically evaluating prospects in order to maximize profits for...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaWe met Herb Barrett when Diane, Tom, and I attended a breakfast meeting of the Halliburton retiree's club in Houma. Herb was born in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1928. He graduated from high school in 1946 and went to the University of Oklahoma to study petroleum engineering. He left after two years to take a job with Halliburton working in the machine shop and as a cement truck driver. He was transferred...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Amelia, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI met Julie Barrilleaux in 1999 when I interviewed her boss, Earl King, Jr., as part of the study of the impacts of the offshore oil and gas industry on individuals and families in southern Louisiana. I returned to visit Earl in 2001 as part of the offshore history study and spent some time talking with Julie as well. When I began looking specifically for women who were involved in the industry, I...

Scope and Contents

Audio Only

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Montegut, LAAffiliation: University of Arizona.Roland Belanger was recommended by his son, Kevin, who is chief executive officer of the South Central Planning and Development Commission, the regional planning agency. Roland and his wife still live in Montegut in a house which was menaced by the hurricane floods of September. They are long term residents of Montegut. Roland is one of the Montegut residents who worked for Texaco his entire...