Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Lafayette, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Dean Whitaker by Maryann Galletti. Dean worked for J&J Diving in the 1960s. I tracked Dean down in Lafayette and met him at Charlie G's restaurant there. We began the interview in the restaurant and then went over to his office to continue talking.Dean Whitaker is from New Orleans. His parents were migrant farmworkers and would travel from place to place picking...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): B. Beauboeuf. Houston, TXAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalCarl Wickizer went to work for Shell in 1954 after graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1954. After training, his first assignment was to New Orleans as a production engineer in 1957. He worked in various capacities until 1971 when he first worked with the offshore Gulf of Mexico. In 1973 he became Project manager for the pilot subsea system and he spend the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Belle Chasse, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaWayne Willet was referred to me by William Brown. Wayne was one of a small group of divers who had come down from Canada in the 1960s. He was born in Quebec in 1930. He got into diving when doing construction work in Canada and followed his boss, Max Rieher, to the Gulf in 1964. Wayne worked for Deep Sea Divers for two years and then went to work for Dick Evans. He stayed with Dick Evans and...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Galliano, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. Andrew "Pep" Williams, an "oldtimer," was referred to me by Harrison Cheramie. When I arrived for the interview, Pep and his wife, Bertha, were sitting around their back patio, and he was doing some watering. Their well-kept house has many visible patriotic displays, and Bertha dwelled on the "war" and the hardships it would pose for south Louisiana boys who might be called upon to fight in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Bayou Vista, LAAffiliation: University of ArizonaBill Williams was recommended to me by John Ryan. I had a hard time finding him - there were several Bill Williams in the phone book - but I was finally able to track him down. He was the oldest person I interviewed, and we got along fine. He makes hootch as a hobby, and we had some after the interview. Bill lives alone; his wife passed away several years ago, and although he talks slowly,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer(s): J. Christy. Morgan City, LAAffiliation: University of Houston/History InternationalEldridge "Tot" Williams was born in Morgan City, Louisiana in 1927. His father, George Williams, was a shrimper /trapper turned crew boat owner who grew up on Bateman Island (across the Bayou Shaffer from Morgan City). His father had a second-grade education and became one of Morgan City's wealthiest citizens because of the oil fields. Eldridge worked as a deckhand on...