This month marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Standard Oil in Baton Rouge. The Standard Oil Company, now ExxonMobil, has had a tremendous economic, social, and technological impact on the Baton Rouge community. Despite its importance there are currently few oral histories to document the company’s influence and achievements in our community.
The Center is launching an oral history project to begin to close this gap. The History of Standard Oil/ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge Series will focus interviews on some of the older people in the community who can provide information about the role that the company played in the development of the Baton Rouge community during important eras like the Great Depression, World War Two, and the early Post-War era. We are interested in conducting interviews with men and women who represent a cross-section of the community–from former executives to manual laborers. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in being considered for an oral history interview, please fill out this survey form:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/williams/standardoilcontactform.html
or contact the Center directly at 225-578-6577. We will be selecting 10-12 interview candidates for the initial stage of the project, conducted this summer, so it’s important that you fill out the form in as much detail as possible. For this stage, the Center will focus on the 1930s-1955. Of course, if there are any candidates with memories from the 1920s, we are very interested!
To commemorate the anniversary, LSU Libraries Special Collections is hosting an exhibition, “A Century of Standard Oil in Baton Rouge,” featuring early 20th century photographs taken by Standard Oil executive, J.A. Bechtold, currently on loan to the LSU Libraries Special Collections by his grand-daughter, Marna Shortess. To learn more, please visit the Special Collections Exhibitions page:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/exhibits/index.html