Scope and Contents Interviewer: Tyler Priest and Jason TheriotAffiliation: University of HoustonGordon Sterling was raised in Ontario, Canada, and quickly developed an interest in engineering. He earned a master’s degree in structural engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 1965, and soon ended up with Shell Oil in Houston. Two years later, working out of New Orleans for Shell’s central engineering group, Sterling began working on major design projects for platforms in the...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Tyler PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonJohn Swoboda’s parents immigrated from Czechslovakia, and John was born in Galveston, Texas. When a third party showed Swoboda’s father plans for an offshore drilling rig, John helped with its fabrication—on the workover rig that became known as Skytop. During College, Swoboda worked for Collins Construction Company, helping to lay offshore pipelines in the late 1950s. After college, Swoboda landed a job...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Tyler PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonHank Van Calcar grew up on a ranch in Oregon, and attended Oregon State University to study power engineering. With an additional master’s degree from OSU in hand by 1959, Van Calcar worked on control and feedback systems for TRW Systems. After several years, Van Calcar relocated to Seattle to work for Honeywell, where he became involved in building dynamically-positioned ships for the offshore drilling...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Tyler PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonLeon Vincken was educated in the Netherlands in mechanical engineering, and joined Shell Oil in 1955. Vincent was immediately sent to Venezuela, where he spent the next decade of his career. Upon returning to Europe, Vincent was assigned to the research section of Shell, on a p project working to determine the ultimate depth limit of a human diver. Two and a half years later, Vincken was dispatched...

Scope and Contents Interviewer: Tyler PriestAffiliation : University of HoustonGeorge Vance grew up in Brooklyn, and from high school shipped off immediately to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Vance would end up spending twenty years in the Coast Guard, the first half as a shipboard engineer—primarily on an icebreaker—and the second as a professor back at the Academy. Vance earned his doctorate while at the Academy, from the University of Rhode Island, focusing on modeling vessel...

Scope and Contents Interviewer : Jason TheriotAffiliation: University Of HoustonDenis Weber was born and raised in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and took an engineering degree in 1975 from Nichols State University. The following year, he was hired by McDermott as a cost estimator, and through a career of thirty-four years with the firm, worked in a number of capacities. Weber served as a senior project manager for Shell Oil’s Auger tension-leg platform in the early 1990s, helping to...

Scope and Contents Interviewer : Tyler PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonSteven Wheeler hailed from Montana, from which he followed his father’s career into the oil industry and eventually to Houston. Wheeler earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M, and promptly joined Texaco in 1975. He spent twelve years with Texaco in the North Sea, where he was introduced to subsea production technology, and worked especially on several record-setting subsea tie-back...

Scope and Contents Interviewer : Tyler PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonPhil Wilbourn studied at Tennessee Tech University on a baseball scholarship, and graduated in 1966 with an engineering degree in hand. In 1967, Wilbur signed on with Texaco, and worked for two years focused on shallow-water platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Wilbur worked for Texaco across the Gulf Coast and in Saudi Arabia. He worked on the design phase for the LOOP port off of Louisiana as well. Wheeler...

Scope and Contents Interviewer : Jason PriestAffiliation: University of HoustonLou Wilkerson grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and he took a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Arkansas. Subsequently, Wilkerson went to work for Shell in 1961, and later completed a master’s degree in chemical engineering. Wilkerson worked on a thermal project in East Texas, Arctic design projects, but predominantly on subsea and deepwater activities in engineering management. He...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: When UH’s Center for Public History and the University Libraries collaborated to create the Houston History Archives (UH-HHA), part of their mission included a repository for oral histories that tell stories of the growth and development of the Gulf Coast region from multiple points of view. To that end, the Houston Oral History Project in the Center for Public History trains history graduate students to research and interview Houstonians with recollections of the city’s civil rights,...

Scope and Contents Affiliation: University of ArizonaWhile attending a Desk and Derrick meeting with Lillian Espinoza-Gala, I met Adriel Abshire. Through talking to her, Lillian and I learned that Adriel had worked for Schlumberger since 1967. Because she had been in the industry for such a long time, we thought it would be a good idea to interview Adriel for the oral history project. At the end of the meeting, I asked Adriel for her contact information and asked if she would be interested in doing...

Scope and Contents Affiliation: University of ArizonaEdward J. Anderson found out about the oil history research project on the KATC3 News segment with Morgan Lundy. Laura Loewer responded to Edward and they set up an interview over the phone at the Petroleum Club in Lafayette. Edward was accompanied by a friend of his, Patrice, and she speaks briefly towards the middle of the interview, but leaves to get to work with about 30 minutes left in the recording.Edward James Anderson was born...

Scope and Contents Affiliation: University of ArizonaFrank Barker contacted the team after he learned about the oil and gas oral history project in local the news. He was interested in being interviewed. We agreed to meet on July 17th at the Petroleum Club.Frank is originally from Jennings, LA. He got his degree in engineering and worked for General Electric and in chemical engineering. He moved to Lafayette and started working in the oilfield in 1977. Frank was in the industry for 27...

Scope and Contents Affiliation: University of ArizonaWhen the research team arrived in Lafayette, Lillian Espinoza-Gala brought us to a Desk and Derrick meeting. While there, we met a lot of women who work in the administrative side of the oil and gas industry. We received contact information and shared ours with the meeting-goers. After the meeting we received a call from a Desk and Derrick member, Kay Gotte. Kay wanted to schedule a time for us to interview her boss, Al Bellaire. Al is a vice...

Scope and Contents Affiliation: University of ArizonaDarren Benjamin was referred to the oil history project by his brother. Though there may have been some miscommunication, as Darren thought it might be an interview for a job opportunity as he had been recently laid off in the slump in the industry, Darren agreed to the interview.Darren Benjamin is from Lafayette, Louisiana. He first began working offshore in May 2010 as a cook. He worked mainly in deepwater and had never experienced...