Oklahoma Historical Society Annual Meeting set for April 18-20, 2012

“Music and Folklore from the Oklahoma Oil Patch” is among the planned sessions when members of the Oklahoma Historical Society gather April 18-20, 2012, in Miami, Oklahoma.

Educational sessions and evening events will take place at the elegant Coleman Theatre, according to Annual Meeting Committee Chair Leonard Logan.

“The theme of the annual meeting this year is Crossroads of Creativity: The Impact of Oklahoma on Popular Culture,” Logan explains. “Festivities will begin Wednesday evening with a Coffeehouse Concert at the Coleman Theatre featuring Mason Williams and a host of outstanding musicians who were prominent in the folk music scene as experienced in coffeehouses in Oklahoma and throughout the nation in the 1950s.”

Program sessions on Thursday, April 19, and Friday, April 20, will feature presentations on topics such as “The Image of American Indians in Movies and Popular Culture, Images of Oklahoma in Popular Culture, The Coffeehouse Era in Oklahoma, Impact of Oklahomans on Images of the American West, Music Festivals and Circuses in Rural Oklahoma, Oklahoma’s  Contributions to Jazz and Blues, Oklahoma Authors and Cartoonists  - and Music and Folklore from the Oklahoma Oil Patch.

The annual membership luncheon on April 19 will feature Mason Williams as the keynote speaker. Thursday evening will feature “An Evening of Elegance at the Coleman Theatre,” while the Annual Awards Luncheon will take place on Friday. Anyone wishing to receive a registration form via email may do so by emailing their request to Paul Lambert at plambert@okhistory.org

Originally a vaudeville theatre and movie palace, the “Coleman Theatre Beautiful” opened to a full house of 1,600, at $1 a seat, on April 18, 1929. Built by George L. Coleman Sr., a local mining magnate, the opulent structure with Louis XV interior design dazzled the audiences of the day. From that day forward the Coleman has never been “dark.”

April Fools Shoot in Enid

In celebration of its first anniversary, the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center ^[2] plans a special event for March 31, 2012. The Enid, Oklahoma, center is hosting its first “April Fools Shoot.” The fund-raising competition will take place at the range of the Grand National Quail Hunt Gun Club. Dressed in 19th century hunting costumes, museum staff will explain historic firearms, techniques, and equipment.

PHI 2012 Symposium

^[3]The Petroleum History Institute is hosting its annual Oil History Symposium March 8-10, 2012, in Houston. Symposium headquarters will be in the Four Seasons Hotel, according to Jeff Spenser who is organizing events, which will include a March 10 field trip to the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum in Galveston.

Oral presentations and posters will be presented on March 9; submitted papers will be included in the next edition of the Oil City, Pennsylvania-based institute’s Oil-History Journal, edited by William Bruce, author of Myth, Legend, Reality – Edwin Laurentine Drake and the Early Oil Industry. To lean more and register, visit the institute’s website ^[3].

Petroleum Museum exhibits Oil Stock Certificates

An exhibit of oil company stock certificates is on loan from the Western Heritage Museum at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, according to the Petroleum Museum’s third-quarter 2011 “Bits & Bytes” newsletter. The collection includes stock certificates from as early as 1902 to the 1950s.

Companies such as El Paso Natural Gas, Humble, Stanolind and Seaboard as well as Texon, are on exhibit. “Anyone interested in learning the value of old stock certificate can try several places,” the museum notes. “Online search engines can help determine if the company is still in existence.”

The Petroleum Museum also suggests contacting the state that incorporated the company. “The state’s corporation commission should be able to determine if the company still exists or if it merged and changed names.” Other recommendations include (for a growing number of collectors) scripophily.com ^[5], and the discussion forum at the historical society: “Stock Certificate Q&A.” ^[6]

Founded in 1975 by George T. Abell, this Permian Basin petroleum museum includes a 40,000-square-foot facility housing photographic wall murals depicting early life in the oilfields, a West Texas boomtown, and a marine diorama of 230 million years ago.

43rd Annual West Virginia Oil & Gas Festival

An annual community event since 1969, the 2011 West Virginia Oil & Gas Festival takes place September 15-17 in the historic community of Sistersville and celebrates the little-known story of the Appalachian petroleum industry. Call (304) 652-2939.

An August 11, 1891, discovery well made this small Ohio River community the world’s leading oil producer. The well was restored as a tourist attraction in 1911 by Quaker State Refining Corporation.

76th Annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival

South Louisiana has a rich history when it comes to festivals, notes an article in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana’s Dailycometcom ^[8]. That’s what makes the 76th annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival special, organizers say.

“We are a complete, family-oriented festival,” festival director Lee Delaune says about the oldest chartered harvest festival in Louisiana. “There’s not many like us out there. We have a little of something for everyone, whether it’s the kids, adults or those who enjoy the more traditional things our festival has to offer.”

The festival, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. September 1 and continue through September 5, will feature more than 100 artists, crafters, carnival rides and food vendors, almost all of which will be sheltered in the shade beneath the U.S. 90 overpass in Morgan City.

Morgan City’s largest event of the year typically draws 150,000 people. Most of the festival’s attendees come from south Louisiana, particularly the area between Houma and New Iberia, but the event also entertains international visitors, including foreign workers stopping in at the port city.

The Shrimp and Petroleum Festival began in 1936 when the port of Morgan City and Berwick received its first boatload of jumbo shrimp. The festival became the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in 1967 — as the oil industry became a vital part of the local economy. Organizers say the festival recognizes the working men and women of both the seafood and petroleum industries, which are the economic lifeblood of the area.

The festival has been picked as a Top 100 American Bus Association event and a Top 20 Southeast Tourism event. To learn about events, visit shrimp-petrofest.org. ^[9] Morgan City also is home to the offshore rig Mr. Charlie, the International Petroleum Museum and Exposition. ^[11]

August 2011

Festivals in Pennsylvania Oil Region

Titusville, Pennsylvania, hosts its 152nd Annual Oil Festival on August 12-13, 2011. This year’s events include:

August 12 –Free public education program at Drake Well Museum — “The Early History of Refining” will be conducted by Neil McElwee. The workshop is sponsored by the Oil Region Alliance. A YMCA 5K Walk/Run Race takes place at the Ed Myr Complex.

An “All Class Reunion” at the high school cafeteria is sponsored by the Titusville Alumni Association. The 12th Annual Titusville Health & Aging Auction occurs at the Titusville Community Center.

The Farmers National Bank will be presenting Matt Gavula: Erie’s Piano Man in a Kick-Off Concert. The Blue Canoe Brewery offers outdoor entertainment: Joe’s Sunroom. The day includes the first of a planned annual Wine Rush will be at Angeli Winery.

On August 13 –Crafters and vendors selling their wares in downtown Titusville sponsored by Titusville Leisure Services. The annual parade down Main Street will start at 11 a.m. It is sponsored by the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Other activities will include tours of the First Presbyterian Church and the historic childhood home of Ida Tarbell on Main Street. The Oil Region Alliance will conduct the free tours. An Art Show and Chalk Walk at the Main Street School is sponsored by the Titusville Council on Arts.

A Farmers Market is sponsored by Titusville Renaissance, Inc., and the Drake’s Folly 3rd Annual Brew Fest at the Blue Canoe Brewery will be popular along with the antique and new tractor display on West Spring Street. Fireworks are scheduled for 10 p.m.

On July 31, 2011, in nearby Oil City, the 33rd Annual Oil Heritage Festival included a craft show, parade, evening concerts in Justus Park, fireworks display along the Allegheny River, softball tournament, ice cream social, bicycle rodeo, children’s mini-carnivals — and great food.

California Oil Museum Cruises into Summer

“The bikes are coming! Summer is the perfect time to get out your motorcycle and come down to the California Oil Museum ^[13] for our annual summer motorcycle exhibit,” says museum Director Jeanne Orcutt about her Santa Paula museum.

The July 1 opening reception coincided with Santa Paula’s “Cruise Night,” which brought visitors to the museum while on the way to see the classic cars cruising Main Street. The exhibit will be open through September 18, 2011.

“This year the museum will be featuring a fantastic collection of Kawasaki’s beginning with a 1969 Blue Streak/H-1/Mach III…a bike with serious attitude that changed the world of motorcycling forever,” Jeanne says in her Summer 2011 E-Newsletter. The 1970s Motorcycles are from the collection of Daniel Schoenewald of Ventura County.

“Their evolving style and specs provide a wonderful history of how Kawasaki developed over the years and will remind you of why you couldn’t wait to buy your first motorcycle! Kawasaki emerged out of the ashes of World War II to become one of the big players from Japan,” Joanne says. “In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Kawasaki built a reputation for some of the most powerful engines on two wheels.”

Other exhibits at the California Oil Museum — in addition to its permanent Petroleum Galleries — include the 13th Annual Santa Paula High School Student Art Show, May 22 to July 24, 2011, and the History of the Santa Paula Police Department, May 21 to September 25, 2011.

June 2011

Petroleum History Institute Symposium — June 23 to 25 in Ohio

The Petroleum History Institute ^[3] and its co-sponsors are seeking papers, both oral and poster presentations, for the Symposium and Field Trip meeting to be held at Marietta, Ohio, June 23-25, 2011. Deadline for submitting papers is May 1, according to Jeff Spencer.

“The Symposium will be held on Friday, June 24, and authors can request either the morning or afternoon sessions,” Spencer notes. “Unless otherwise requested, the oral presentations will be limited to 30 minutes, including a short Q & A. Poster presentations will be mounted on Thursday afternoon and will stay available to the participants until Friday afternoon.”

The Oil and Gas Museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia ^[15], is across the Ohio River and about 15 miles south from the 2011 symposium site in Marietta. PHI especially welcomes papers about the history of the industry in the Ohio-West Virginia regions — but also welcomes papers on any subject related to the industry.

Authors of accepted papers are strongly encouraged to submit their manuscripts for inclusion in the 2011 issue of Oil-Industry History, the only peer-reviewed professional journal devoted exclusively to the history of the international oil and gas industry.

For more information, contact: wbrice@pitt.edu. Please submit abstracts (600 words or fewer) to: W. R. Brice, Editor, Oil-Industry History, 116 Luna Lane, Johnstown, PA 15904.

Roughneck Daddy

The East Texas Oil Museum ^[17]hosts a June 11, 2011, book signing by retired educator and author Donna F. Orchard, of Mississippi. The 10 a.m. to noon signing of her new book, Roughneck Daddy, takes place at the museum, located on the campus of Kilgore College. The book is the story of how Orchard grew up as the daughter of a roughneck in the oilfield. A book signing is also scheduled that same afternoon from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gaston Museum ^[18], 6558 Hwy. 64 West, in Joinerville.

Spring 2011 Events

Electra, Texas, Celebrates Oil Centennial

An oil discovery centennial party is coming to Electra, Texas! On April 1, 1911, just south of the Red River border with Oklahoma, the Clayco Oil & Pipe Line Company’s Clayco No. 1 well launched an oil boom, notes the Pump Jack Capital Association ^[19].

The gusher on cattleman William T. Waggoner’s lease produced about 650 barrels per day from 1,628 feet. Hundreds of producing wells would follow, reaching the oilfield’s peak production of more than eight million barrels in 1913. The Wichita County town is named after Waggoner’s daughter.

Thanks to the initiative of resident historians, the Texas legislature designated Electra as the “Pump Jack Capital” of Texas in 2001. A host of activities are planned for the April celebration of the Clayco No. 1 well, including a keynote address by Alex Mills, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, during a re-dedication ceremony of the well’s historic marker.

Among the April 1-2 highlights are a pictorial display of petroleum history inside Electra’s Grand Theatre; a walking tour of antique oil equipment, including the Clayco well’s boiler; a special Chuck Wagon Gang Lunch and chili cook-off; events for young people; and plenty of live entertainment.

31st Annual Good Oil Days in Humble, Texas ^[21]

On April 10, it’s the 31st anniversary of the annual Humble, Texas, celebration — Good Oil Days ^[21]– which celebrates a 1904 oil boom and later discoveries. The community’s rich petroleum heritage includes the 1911 founding of Humble Oil and Refining Company (now ExxonMobil) by Ross Sterling, who once operated a feed store there.

Derrick Days & Chili Cook-Off in Corsicana

Also in the Lone Star State, the 2011 celebration of Corsicana’s rich oil heritage will take place April 29 and 30 — Corsicana Derrick Days ^[22] will include the annual Chili & BBQ Cook-off.

In 1976, Corsicana leaders decided that annual event should be established commemorating Corsicana’s petroleum exploration history and its significant impact on the community’s development. Derrick Days has become the premier festival event in Navarro County.

The first Derrick Days was held that year and every spring thereafter, growing in size with the addition of new activities each year. It’s a great time, especially when you add an annual craw-fish boil, this year combined with a golf tournament, scheduled for April 1 and 2 — just four weeks ahead of the big weekend.

Editor’s Note –Although nothing official is planned for April 15 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, some oil patch historians no doubt will inform visitors at the replica derrick in Johnstone Park that at 3 p.m. in 1897, Jennie Cass dropped an explosive charge down a well — and brought in the state’s first commercially successful oil well, the Nellie Johnstone Number One. When in Bartlesville, also visit the Phillips Petroleum Company Museum ^[23].

————————————————————–

March Natural Gas Workshop

^[16]The Oil Regional Alliance ^[16] of Oil City, Pennsylvania, sponsors a March 26, 2011, workshop, “Hidden Highway: Natural Gas Pipelines & Distribution Past, Present & Future,” presented in the Oil City Library by David Waples, manager of corporate communications for National Fuel Gas Company, Erie. David is author of the Natural Gas Industry in Appalachia.

Borger, Texas, Birthday

In Texas, the Hutchinson County “Boom Town” Museum ^[24] celebrates the city of Borger’s 85th birthday on March 12, 2011, with a program by author and storyteller Dr. Bobby Weaver called “Oilfield Trash” which explores the lighter side of the western experience.

“Built on the contents of both his 2010 books — Hotter’N Pecos and Oilfield Trash– the presentation provides a glimpse into the lifestyles of oilfield workers and other characters who made boomtown boom. Theirs is a story often humorous, sometimes serious, but always entertaining.”

—————————————————————

For news about other notable historical society events — contact AOGHS and ask about its Energy Education Conference & Field Trip ^[25] and other special events featured in earlier Petroleum Age ^[26] newsletters.