Articles

Abstract

The Desk and Derrick Club was established in March 1949 as the first professional organization for women working in the oil and gas industry. The Desk and Derrick Club’s original mission was to educate and support women who were working in the energy industry. The Desk and Derrick Club produced this scrapbook in its first year of existence. The collection includes newspaper clippings of the Club's organizational meetings, and original activities

Abstract Gordon F. Baxter was born on December 25, 1923, in Port Arthur, Texas. He resided in Beaumont from 1959 until his death on June 11, 2005. During his professional career he was a writer, radio broadcaster, and a airplane pilot. He was well-known for his independent spirit and proved to be a colorful figure in his profession. These papers include personal papers and correspondence, artifacts, scrapbooks, publications, slides, and photographic negatives related to his personal life and...

Abstract Halvor Ingebret Ostebee was a pioneer Beaumont, Texas, photographer who, during the Spindletop oil boom, was best known for the first action-picture of the Lucas gusher, the city's landmark oil well that was discovered in 1901. He opened his first portable photography gallery, called Beach Studio, in Beaumont, in 1897. The city's elite flocked to have pictures taken on birthdays and other anniversaries, and particularly weddings. His photographs of the history-making event at Spindletop were...

Abstract

Wilber C. Looney was a prominent businessman in Beaumont, Texas. When he retired he was a manager in southeast Texas for Westinghouse Electric Corp. He and his wife, Thyrza, a well-known local interior designer, resided at a now-historic home on North Eleventh and Toccoa Streets. Known then as the Vaughn House, the couple restored this Victorian cottage into a plantation-style mansion in 1948.