Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz and D. DiTucci. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteMorris Pyle was born in east Texas in 1927. At the age of 24 his uncle got him a job on a seismic crew in southern Louisiana swamps and he moved to Lafayette; he worked for that company for about a year and a half. After that he went to work for another company, where he continued to generate maps from seismic data. He describes his early days on the seismic crews in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalAfter graduating from Tulsa University with a Masters degree in Petroleum and Geological Engineering, John Redmond started at Shell as a Chemist in 1936. In 1941 he helped fully establish the Bellaire Research lab. He spent 1945-1948 he served in West Texas, Midland, and East Texas. He transferred to Houston as Chief Exploitation Engineer in 1947-1948. He served in that...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalMr. John Reilly grew up in Iowa, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943, and served in the Pacific as a radar mechanic. He graduated from Iowa State in 1951 with a degree in geology and joined GSI as a "computer." After working as a seismologist on offshore seismic crews contracted to Union Producing, Reilly went to work for Union in 1957. In 1965, he became district...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Cut Off, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaWe met Joycelyn Renois during our initial baseline study of the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico when she was working for Windell Curole at the South Lafourche Levee District. Tom McGuire interviewed Joycelyn's husband, Butch, and father-in-law, Emmett Jr. He asked Joycelyn if she would be willing to talk about the industry from a woman's perspective, and she agreed. I met her...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Cut Off, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaInterviewed with brother, Emmett, Butch is one of two sons of Emmett Renois, Sr., from the Shreveport area. The father, born in 1902, died in 2000. His daughter-in-law, Joycelyn, wife of Butch and secretary to Windell Curole at the Lafourche Levee District, shot a home video of Emmett, Sr., in 1992, covering some of his recollections of working in the Leevillle oil fields right after the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Piekielek. Grand Bayou, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaDwight Reyes (pronounced Reese) is Myrtle Phillips' older brother and also lives in Grand Bayou. Diane Austin and I had met Dwight the week before while visiting with Myrtle, and had asked if he would be willing to do an interview. He said that he would be, but that he was busy that afternoon doing some work outside. When I returned to Plaquemines Parish, I called Myrtle and she arranged...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Houma, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaPercy Rhodes was recommended by Diana Edmonson of the Houma-Terrebonne Council on Aging. She contacted him directly and got his agreement ahead of time. On my visit, he and his wife, Ann, were both welcoming. By the end of the interview, his wife sat in and made some comments. He was very excited about the photo book and made some corrections.Percy Rhodes started with Texaco in 1956 as...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Bourg, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaWilbert Rhodes is the brother of Percy Rhodes whom I had interviewed previously. Like Percy, Wilbert was contacted by Diana Edmonson of the Council on Aging. Wilbert and his wife, Geri, live in Bourg, not far from the field where he worked. Geri is a retired teacher. We spent a fair amount of time going through the photo book.Wilbert Rhodes' father was a trapper, carpenter, and boat...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Cut Off, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaE.J. Richardelle's wife, Katherine, became involved in the history project during the first meeting of the project action team established by the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program. We talked about the study design and goals, and Katherine became animated as she realized that her entire life had been affected by the oil and gas industry. I suggested that Katherine and her husband should...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Grand Isle, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaOn my trip in January, I paid a courtesy call to the mayor, David Camardelle, whom I had met on an earlier project. After chatting, he introduced me to the building inspector, Irvin Richoux. He would be out of town, but agreed to meet with me the next time I came down. I interviewed him in his office at the Town Hall, as it was being vacuumed at the close of the day.Irvin Richoux...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): Tom McGuire; Christina Leza; Colleen O'Donnell. Grand Isle, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaHarris Cheramie at the Port Fourchon Marina recommended Aubin Rigaud who was listed, erroneously, as Clovis Austin Rigaud in the phonebook. While interviewing Arthur Bellanger, the error was detected and I was put on the right trail. Since Harris' referrals have been extremely productive in the past, I was eager to meet Mr. Rigaud. I interviewed him at his...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. New Iberia, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaAl Rivet was the president of the local chapter of the Shell retirees club, and he was recommended to me by Jimmy Hebert, the vice-president of the same club. He's a jovial and outgoing guy. Al is a wealth of knowledge about the oilfield and offshore work. We were able to talk about a lot of interesting things in the course of our discussion, including the role of hands-on experience in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. P. Theriot. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalCaptain Bill Robb grew up near a seaport in Scotland. He went to sea as an apprentice at age 16. When World War II broke out, he was thrust into the Merchant Marine, transporting cargo from Europe to the Far East. He participated in the Allied Invasion of North Africa in November 1942; his ship was bombed by a German torpedo bomber and was never recovered. After the war,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Thibodaux, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaIra Robertson is the ex-brother-in-law of Ms. Delores Henderson of Morgan City, wife of Caleb Henderson (RH011). Ms. Delores called me in August to tell me about Ira; she had already talked to him about the project. Even though he isn't married to Caleb's sister anymore, Ira and Ms. Delores still see each other once a week when he comes over to cut her lawn. He lives in a small gray house with...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz. Arnaudville, LAAffiliation: University of Louisiana at LafayetteJoseph W. Robin was born in 1937 in Breaux Bridge, where his family had cotton and heifers. After graduating high school there in 1955, he went to study agriculture for three months at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI, now ULL). He worked for Southern Pacific for three or four months before going to work for Phillips 66 in 1957 as a deckhand and replacement engineer,...