WEBVTT - Way Black History Fact - The First Black Owned Oil Company (2 of 3)

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, it is time for the way Black History Fact.

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<v Speaker 1>In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major

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<v Speaker 1>Threads for innovative, fashionable sportswear. Check major threads dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>This comes from ktalnews dot com. And we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>talk about uh, black owned oil companies. How about that.

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<v Speaker 1>I might never conceived of the Let's talk about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about it all right. So his name was

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<v Speaker 1>Odessa sat Strickland, and in the early nineteen hundreds he

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<v Speaker 1>invented a device that traced and defined the boundaries of

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<v Speaker 1>oil and gas deposits. In nineteen forty alone, one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty nine out of one hundred and forty of

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<v Speaker 1>the locations discovered by Strickland's and mention produced oil and gas.

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<v Speaker 1>But Strickland his big claim to fame came about because

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<v Speaker 1>of his involvement, sorry in what many newspapers of the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirties referred to as the first black owned oil

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<v Speaker 1>company in the United States. Universal Oil, Gas and Mining

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<v Speaker 1>Companies headquarters was located at ten fifty one and a

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<v Speaker 1>half Texas Avenue in Shreeport. Uog MC got its start

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<v Speaker 1>at the very beginning of the Great Depression, when the

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<v Speaker 1>company had only twenty dollars left in its entire treasury

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<v Speaker 1>after paperwork was filed for the charter. The charter was

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<v Speaker 1>filed with the Caddo Parish Clerk in October of nineteen thirty.

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<v Speaker 1>General manager O. S. Strickland grew the corporation until it

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<v Speaker 1>owned and controlled oil lands, wells, drilling machinery, and carrying

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<v Speaker 1>lines that were worth more than half a million dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>In April nineteen thirty one, the company completed its number

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<v Speaker 1>one J. T. Brown for a daily estimated production of

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<v Speaker 1>eight thousand barrels. According to the Longview News Journal. The

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<v Speaker 1>well was in the PRU survey. By next August, the

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<v Speaker 1>company amended its charter to increase capitalization to ten thousand

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<v Speaker 1>shares of ten dollars per value. In nineteen thirty two,

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<v Speaker 1>three black women were on the board of directors. Fast

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<v Speaker 1>forward to nineteen thirty seven and four of the nine

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<v Speaker 1>directors were women. Jail Jones was president. By nineteen thirty seven.

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<v Speaker 1>Jones had been a beloved educator and principal in Minden.

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<v Speaker 1>He had been president of the Louisiana Colored Teachers Association.

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<v Speaker 1>The company was known to shape and train young black

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<v Speaker 1>men and turn them into oil engineers and mechanics oil

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<v Speaker 1>drillers as well, But in nineteen thirty seven oil field

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<v Speaker 1>workers had to hold their ground when they were shot

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<v Speaker 1>at by a white mob near Lulling, Texas. By nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>forty one, Universal had acquired a cable tool drilling rig

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<v Speaker 1>that they installed on a well in Kentucky. The rig

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<v Speaker 1>was destroyed completely in August of nineteen forty the culprit

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<v Speaker 1>a gas blowout, but in the same year, daily oil

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<v Speaker 1>production from all Universal wells in Texas, Kentucky, and Louisiana

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<v Speaker 1>hit three hundred and eighty barrels. A day before his death,

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<v Speaker 1>Strickland wrote an editorial for Black citizens of Shreveport, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>it has been our ambition to organize a company that

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<v Speaker 1>could take in all phases of the oil and mining

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<v Speaker 1>industry with an exclusive Negro personnel, and employ men and

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<v Speaker 1>women to operate every phase of the business in which

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<v Speaker 1>we have been considerably successful. For we have Negro drillers,

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<v Speaker 1>lease operators, field agents, and geologists and engineers, all of

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<v Speaker 1>whom are negroes and trained in their particular line of work.

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<v Speaker 1>Strickland was writing on the subject of World War two

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<v Speaker 1>and the oil industry quote. We pledged to do our

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<v Speaker 1>bid for the safety and protection of our country, he promised.

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<v Speaker 1>He died on September sixteenth the same year and was

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<v Speaker 1>buried in the Shepherd Street Cemetery in Minden, Louisiana. Now

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<v Speaker 1>where we move on, I want to say something times

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<v Speaker 1>very different and to have an exclusive black, exclusively black

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<v Speaker 1>roster of employees was a remarkable feat because many of

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<v Speaker 1>these people could not be educated to that point at

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<v Speaker 1>the time normally, so for them to be independent and

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<v Speaker 1>successful without relying on white folks was a badge of honor,

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<v Speaker 1>especially back then. Nowadays, a lot of people would say

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<v Speaker 1>that that's reverse racism or something like that, but I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to have its proper historical context that at the

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<v Speaker 1>time that was quite accomplishment. So shout out to them.