Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): R. Carriker. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteMr. Warren "Dick" Farmer was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. His father was a freight train conductor with the railroad industry. He graduated high school in 1945 and joined the Marine Corps. He studied physical education at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) on the GI Bill until 1949, but never finished his degree. During that time he worked for Frank Mosing Casing...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Rylan Higgins; A. Gardner. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaWe were referred to Butch Felterman by Jackie Paice. In the first interview, which was conducted as a pilot for the study, he talked about boats and his company. Andrew decided it would be a good idea to revisit him and talk a little bit more about his personal history, his company's history, and the history of the community of Patterson. Butch is pretty quiet, and the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Lakeaway, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalMr. R. L. Ferris graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941 and started working for Shell shortly thereafter. He had several assignments in the mid-continent and Tulsa areas before becoming division production geologist for the Oklahoma Division in 1948. He became Senior Exploitation manager and spent time overseas from 1955-1956. He returned to the U.S. and...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaAubrey Fields was recommended to me by Santo Rousso. I met him at his house in Morgan City. He was a friendly man, but for some reason this interview never really got off the ground. There are a few tidbits in here that cover new ground, but most of his answers were brief. He talks briefly about the Magnolia company union, about the quality of labor he supervised, and the first Kerr-McGee...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. P. Theriot. Galveston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalClyde Fitzgerald is a native of Houston. His father and two uncles worked as longshoremen on the Houston Ship Channel. He started working as a longshoremen in 1959. He worked his way through the ranks and became president of the International Longshoremen's Assocation (ILA), South Atlantic Gulf Coast District, which represents longshoremen union members from...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteJim Florstedt was born in 1944 and his father was in the State Department; the family moved frequently, never staying in a location for more than four years. He received a bachelor's degree from Eastern New Mexico University in geology and zoology in 1967. After graduating Texas Tech in 1969 with a master's degree, he went to work for Humble Oil Company in New Orleans. After...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaLJ Folse was recommended by Diana Edmonson as the banker with the most extensive experience in the area. She contacted him and got his approval for an interview. I met him at his office and we talked for about three hours the first time; in fact I ran out of tape and had to take notes for the last hour. I later met with him on an informal basis on March 31, when we talked for another four hours. ...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalMike Forrest got his B.S. in geological engineering from St. Louis University and joined Shell Oil in 1955. He moved through the company and became Senior Geophysicist for the New Orleans E&P area. It was here that he documented the bright spot phenomenon that changed the way Shell and the industry searched for hydrocarbons. He continued working for various branches of...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest; J. Pratt. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalJoe Foster worked for Tenneco for 31 years, last serving as chairman of Tenneco Oil Company and executive vice president and director of Tenneco, Inc. He was born in Arp, TX and received petroleum engineering and business degrees from Texas A&M. He managed Tenneco's extremely successful exploration and production operations in offshore Gulf of Mexico. Foster...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. DiTucci. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteRobert Fournet graduated in 1952 from Southwestern Louisiana Institute with a degree in geology; during his college years he did some roustabouting and roughneck work. Upon graduating he worked for Superior Oil Company as a roughneck, but was soon called into service with the Navy for a year. When he returned he went to work for Hycalog for two-thirds of a year and then for...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Scott Kennedy; Joanna Stone; Betsy Plumb. Dulac, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Mr. Antoine ﾓTeeﾔ Francis by his sister Corine Paulk. He and his wife told me that he had had a stroke the previous year that made it difficult for him to remember the details of his work and to completely understand my questions. Mary helped us with parts of the conversation, and it seemed to me that he could figure out my questions better if they...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. DiTucci; S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteW.D. Frazell was born in 1913 in Resell, Texas, a small town near Waco. He received a BS degree at Southern Methodist University and a Master's degree in Geology at University of Texas at Austin in 1935. He worked for United Gas Line Company before going into the Navy during WWII. He moved to Southern LA in 1955, where he was responsible for drilling many oil wells. He...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. DiTucci; S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteW.D. Frazell was born in 1913 in Resell, Texas, a small town near Waco. He received a BS degree at Southern Methodist University and a Master's degree in Geology at University of Texas at Austin in 1935. He worked for United Gas Line Company before going into the Navy during WWII. He moved to Southern LA in 1955, where he was responsible for drilling many oil wells. He...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Christy. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalLogan Fromenthal was from Morgan City. He went to the University of South Louisiana in Lafayette and went to work for Shell Oil as a laborer in 1964 at the age of 19. He worked West Delta Block 30 and West Delta Blocks 105 and 133 and was promoted to gauger. Mr. Fromenthal transferred to the Domestic Raw Material Supply (Shell's transportation group) and worked there...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): R. Higgins. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaGarver Watkins told me that Lester Fryou had worked at McDermott most of his life and was one of the people hired on in the 1950s. He also told me that Lester would likely be interested in participating in the project. Lester and his wife live in a small home in Morgan City. When I showed up, Lester was the only one home, but his wife showed up part way through the interview. Lester offered...