KLINGENBERG, Elmo (b. 1917) | Oral History

KLINGENBERG, Elmo (b. 1917)

Oral Histories

President and general manager, Fort Worth Stockyards Company, Fort Worth, Texas. Family background; dairy farming in Washington County, Illinois; experiences teaching in one-room school, Washington County, 1935; military service during World War II; employment with United Stockyards Corporation and placement as management trainee at Fort Worth Stockyards, 1946; promotion to yardmaster, 1953; brief description of stockyards activities, early 1900s; geographical area served and volume of business; description of cattle transportation by rail and truck; comments on meat packing operations in stockyards; description of Fort Worth Livestock Exchange; explanation of “private treaty” arrangement between buyers and sellers; description of livestock auctioning process; comments on stockyards company’s sources of income; explanation of waste disposal; comments on duties of personnel; volume of livestock sold at auction; description of weighing and feeding operations; comments on price controls during World War II; remodeling of stockyards facility, 1960s and 1970s; comments on Niles City and its incorporation into Fort Worth; appointment as president and general manager, 1971; company name changes; description of union activities at stockyards; trends in livestock operations in Texas; civic activities; comments on government regulations.
Date of Interview: October 12, 1982

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