Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Diane Austin; Jamie Christy. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of Arizona, University of Houston/History InternationalI (Diane) was referred to Harry LeBoeuf by John Ryan. Harry goes to the exercise club where John's wife works out, and he and John sit, drink coffee, and talk. I called Harry on New Year's Eve, the day he got out of the hospital after having stents in his arteries cleared. He was in the shower when I called, and his wife, Gladys,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin; B. Plumb; R. Higgins; L. Penny. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Arthur Lee by Earl King, Jr. Earl owns and operates King Trucking in Morgan City and told me that Mr. Lee had worked for Mr. Patterson of Patterson Trucking, one of the earliest oilfield trucking companies in the area. Though it took several months to coordinate our schedules, Mr. Lee was happy to be interviewed and asked me to meet him at Saadi's...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Larose, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaCullen Curole, an attorney with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program's Foundation, had been organizing a focus group of Texaco retirees. Cullen himself had once been a Texaco employee, before he crashed a boat into the Texaco dock in Leeville. Pershing Lefort agreed to participate, but wanted to be interviewed at his home in Larose. His wife Ophelia participated in much of the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Christy. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalHouston LeJeune was interviewed on the history of Sun Oil. He went to work for Sun at the age of 18 in 1945 in Opelousas, Louisiana and worked for them for nearly 29 years. He worked around Sunset, Galveston, Padre Island, Laguna Madre, Bay St. Louis, and many other places in Texas and Louisiana. Mr. LeJeune came to Morgan City in 1948. He performed primarily seismic...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaHartwell Lewis was referred to us by Tom Becnel as, simply, a banker. I interviewed him at his home, where he has an office. The interview covered a number of topics related to business in Houma and Hartwell's activities as a venture capitalist, lending money to companies that had trouble borrowing from banks. He prides himself on building these companies up to the point where they can approach...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Theriot, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaCorine Paulk knows Eugis Lirette's wife, Penny, from church. Penny was born in 1964 while Eugis was born in 1932. They are expecting a child in late November of 2001. Eugis is very hard of hearing, which made the interview a little difficult as I had to yell most of the time and he misunderstood a lot of what I said the first time around. Penny sat in and helped clarify some of the questions she...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Andrew Gardner; Emily Bernier. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI got in touch with Melvin Lirette through Burleigh Ruiz. He worked with Melvin's brother Bill for many years. Burleigh called Bill who said that he thought it would be a good idea for him to be present for the interview. Burleigh was going to come along as well but ended up having plans on the day that the first interview was scheduled. I drove up to a modest, yellow house with...

Scope and Contents

Interviewer(s): Emily Bernier

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): A. G. Emily Bernier. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI got in touch with Melvin Lirette through Burleigh Ruiz. He worked with Melvin's brother Bill for many years. Burleigh called Bill who said that he thought it would be a good idea for him to be present for the interview. Burleigh was going to come along as well but ended up having plans on the day that the first interview was scheduled. I drove up to a modest, yellow house with a boat...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaDon Little is the father of Christi Triche, who was one of the teachers who started with the study. We met at Christi's house, and the interview was designed to give her an example of how to do the work. Don has worked for Halliburton most of his career.Don Little left college after marriage in 1972. After working in highway construction for two years, he was able to get a job with...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s) E. Bernier. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI received Lillie Loftin's name from P.J. Trahan while talking about the upcoming Exxon retirees luncheon. She was in charge of organizing all of the Lafayette members for the event.Lillie was a secretary in the oil industry for over 30 years. She began working for Exxon in 1955 in Grand Isle and stayed there for four years. She was transferred inshore to New Iberia and then on...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaBob Long was recommended to me by Jerry Cunningham, one of the teacher-researchers in Morgan City. Bob is a retired African-American oilfield worker, and he's missing both his legs (unrelated to oil work). He lives in a small but nice house off one of the alleys near downtown. He quickly described the segregation common in Morgan City in his youth. Bob got started out in the oilpatch a bit...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalMiner Long working for Shell shortly after he graduate with a degree in physics from Oberlin College in 1948. He took Shell's geology training course and ended up on a seismic crew. He went back to school and did work at John Hopkins in geology, and after graduating in 1953 he rejoined Shell as an exploration geologist. He served as in Denver, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Houston,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Z. Toups. Golden Meadow, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaA friend of mine, Brent Duet, who owns a shipyard in Golden Meadow, dealing with large boat repair, told me of Mr. Robert Looper and his history with the oil field. I asked Mr. Duet if he would contact Mr. Looper regarding possibly speaking to me about his experiences during his many years of employment with Chevron. After being told that he would like to speak with me, I contacted him...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteRufin Lowry was born on February 20, 1921 in Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated from University of Mississippi Law School, practiced law for a year, but left in 1947 when he got a job with Pan American Production Company in Lafayette. He mostly handled land issues for the company. In his interview, he discusses the Oil Center in Lafayette, Louisiana Mineral Law, and the impacts of...