Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaCarl Crawford was recommended to our study team by office personnel at Signal International. When contacted, he agreed to an interview. The interview took place at the Shell Landing Country Club.Mr. Crawford was born in 1943 in Greenville, Mississippi. He worked for several equipment companies, including Caterpillar, in Mississippi and Louisiana before meeting J. L. Holloway, who shortly...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaI stopped in at Willams Fabricators to find out more about the company and was able to arrange an interview with Dale Williams. We met in his office.Mr. Williams was born and raised in Fowl River, Alabama. His parents were commercial fishermen and when the seafood industry was slack, his father took various jobs in the shipyards. He discusses growing up around wooden boat builders and his entry...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Jacob CampbellAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. Smith was first contacted during the History II study, referred by DJ Chauvin, but refused to be interviewed at that time. While he was suspicious and unwelcoming at first, through persistence he agreed to speak with me. We met at his home in north Houma. His wife continued to be very skeptical of the project, and read the consent forms several times before finally allowing Mr. Smith to participate. As...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaPreetam had initially contacted Cathy Webb after speaking with Richie McCallister, the dean of occupation education at Meridian Community College. Richie had told Preetam that Cathy had a husband who worked offshore and who might be willing to speak with me. Preetam met briefly with Cathy who taught in the English Department at the college. She called Preetam back a few days after their first meeting,...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam Prakash and Kelly McLainAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. James Crowell, III was referred to us by our community partner. We first met him at an event held by a local community organization, at which he was honored for his commitment and contributions to the community. After following up with him, we arranged an appointment to meet at the Biloxi NAACP Branch office. After retiring from his civil service career at Keesler Air Force Base, Mr....

Scope and Contents Interview by: Diane Austin and Laura EkAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Mr. Louis Datel by Dennis Sullivan. He counts him as one of the old timers in the service side of the oil and gas business, and had a successful company for many years providing drilling equipment. I met Mr. Datel, and he agreed to an interview at Lillian Miller’s home.Louis Datel was born in 1934, and has lived in Lafayette since 1959. He graduated with a degree in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaOvide Davis and I had met a month or so ago at a local coffee shop. He showed me around town that day and we agreed to talk again. We called each other on the phone a few times setting up the meeting. He and I met at the Sr. Citizen's center on Delmas Ave in Pascagoula. I was introduced to everyone there at the time, we chatted for a bit, then we moved to the conference room in a lawyer's office a couple...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaThe interview took place in a meeting room of the Pascagoula Public Library. Joe Dempster is a tall man with salt and pepper hair and beard. We had met at a friend's easter egg hunt a few weeks earlier and made the arrangements to do an interview for the shipbuilding study, when we met I re-introduced that study, answered some questions, and introduced the oral history study. He agreed to participate and...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Kelly McLainAffiliation: University of ArizonaI first learned about the Dickey family from KM406a, KM406b, and KM406c. I had met with Mrs. Ruby Dickey’s daughter a couple days earlier and she facilitated setting up the meeting date and time with her mother. We met at her home. The house is situated so that the funeral parlor and chapel sit in the front of the house which is closed off from the family living area. Her husband was the owner of Dickey...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaCharles Dorman was another local man who had contacted Preetam after reading the article in the Meridian Star concerning the project. It took a few days to find a time that would work for the interview but Preetam finally ended up meeting with Charles at his home in Enterprise, MS. Charles came from a family of electricians but had chosen to go offshore shortly after he graduated from high school in the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaMr. Bobby Jones, whom I had interviewed while conducting fieldwork during the summer of 2010, had recommended several times that I try to speak with Allen Douglas. Mr. Jones had said that Mr. Douglas was someone who not only had long experience working offshore but who had also been instrumental in facilitating the entrance of many younger people in the area into the offshore oil industry. I tried...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaI had stopped by Mr. Taylor’s marine supply business in Biloxi about a week ago to speak with him about how his business had fared since the Gulf oil spill. During this visit we had also discussed some of the history of Mr. Taylor’s business and the more general industrial history of the area. I had mentioned to Mr. Taylor that we were hoping to conduct some oral history interviews with people in various...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Preetam PrakashAffiliation: University of ArizonaRobert Boles, whom Preetam had interviewed early on during fieldwork around the Meridian area, had originally attempted to put him in touch with Charles Odom. Mr. Odom had initially found Robert a job offshore and both men had worked for varying amounts of time at a local denim factory which was the dominant employer in the area. However, at the time Charles had said that he would not be interested in...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Laura EkAffiliation: University of ArizonaI was referred to Dennis Duhart by Dennis Sullivan, a fellow Halliburton employee. Mr. Sullivan describes Mr. Duhart as one of the first African American men to be deployed offshore, and someone he worked with. I called Mr. Duhart, and we set up an interview at the apartment he stays at while working at Halliburton when he is away from his home and family in Corpus Christi, Texas.Dennis Duhart was born...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Victoria PhaneufAffiliation: University of ArizonaI had met Brett Dungan at a Working Waterfront Coalition meeting some months ago, and we finally were able to arrange a meeting. I met him at the Master Marine office on Shell Belt Road, it's a brick building, with the offices on the second floor. This is one of the few offices that has pictures on the walls and a normal amount of clutter for a 30-some year old business, unlike so many of those whose...