1940s | Oral History

1940s

OH 1001

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Pauline, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to a forestry camp near Flagstaff, Arizona; reenlistment to Company 4842 at DG-41-N in Lake Arthur, New Mexico; company move to Carlsbad, New Mexico; description of camps; life in camps.

OHB 0041

President, Tex-Tan Western Leather Company, Yoakum, Texas. Father’s development of leather tanning business in Yoakum; line of leather products; comments on effects of Depression and World War II on business; tanning processes; saddletree production; sale of business assets, 1956; merger with Tandy Corporation; saddle promotions; expansion into Canada and Mexico; experiences with labor unions in Yoakum; views on pay systems, motivation, and piece work; development of Western Sales stores; retirement.

OH 0680

Former chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Caltex Petroleum Corporation. Education; military service in China during World War II; employment with Caltex, 1946; assignment to Shanghai as legal officer; land titles and property claims in China; postwar marketing strategies in the Far East; competition from Shell and Standard Vacuum; formation of Caltex, his version; Chinese inflation; fall of the Kuomintang, 1949; postwar movement of crude oil, its significance; hostage of radical students at National Chaotung University; character sketches of Phil Lefevre, J. M.

OH 1006

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Central Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 1803 at F-4-T near Ratcliff, Texas; description of camp; life in camp.

OH 0934

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in South Carolina; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 1417 near Rodman, South Carolina; company move to Lancaster, South Carolina; description of camps; life in camps.

OH 1495

Telephone technician. His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Fort Worth, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to a camp near Nogales, Arizona; relocation to Company 1826 at F-30 near Tucson, Arizona; relocation to Yuma, Arizona; relocation to Glenwood, New Mexico; description of camps; life in camps.

OH 0823

His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Oklahoma; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 859 in the Wichita Mountains National Forest (F-5-O) near Cache, Oklahoma; company move to Camp F-8-C in the Arapaho National Forest, Colorado; transfer to Rush Springs, Oklahoma; reenlistment to SCS-11 in Vista, California; description of camps; life in camps.

OH 1704

For the Weatherford Oral History Project. Longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas. Family history; birth, childhood and education in Weatherford; Depression-era struggles; father's work with the Works Progress Administration; Weatherford during World War II; marriage to Norman Towles; family's switch from Democratic loyalty to Republican; personal evolution on race issues; religious devotion.

OH 1661

For the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. Childhood in North Fort Worth and vocational education received at Technical High School; enlistment in U.S. Navy at age of seventeen; assignment to USS Rockaway and USS Wyandot, USS Paiute, and USS Florida; training missions in Pacific Ocean; various missions to North Africa, France, and Greenland, including Normandy invasion; social life in ports of call; re-enlistment in 1946; struggles with alcoholism and conversion to Pentecostal church; civilian career as a mechanic.