The discovery of oil on Signal Hill, north of Long Beach in 1921, was part of an oil boom that opened up new job opportunities throughout southern California in both oil fields and refineries. Because the work was dirty and often dangerous, both oil well drilling and refining paid premium wages. Experienced oil workers from California's Central Valley, as well as those from other parts of the United States, found their way into the Los Angeles area to work in the boom. Some of them, who had belonged to the union in other places helped to organize several locals of the Oil Workers International Union, but had little success in negotiating contracts. Employer resistance to union organizing, government policy and attempts by the American Federation of Labor to split oil workers among existing craft unions limited the locals' success. When the Depression struck in the 1930s, jobs became harder to find. Men who had been working on drilling rigs sometimes had to take lower paying jobs maintaining oil well equipment. Workers in refineries sometimes worked fewer hours; those who kept their jobs knew there were men outside the fence waiting for someone to get fired. And the New Deal, including both the National Industrial Recovery Act and later the National Labor Relations Act, facilitated union organizing. Existing oil workers union locals joined the Congress of Industrial Organizations and supported organizing drives among other industrial workers. World War II brought new demands for oil and post-war expansion in southern California increased the demand even more. At the same time, workers demanded higher wages and more control over their working conditions. When oil company owners didn't agree, there was a protracted strike in 1948. Workers won higher wages and other benefits. The strike, however, also encouraged employers to accelerate automation to make production more efficient and to limit the power of organized workers. This series of interviews was conducted as part of a project to study the impact of oil discovery on the development of Long Beach. The experiences of the six narrators illustrate many of the significant points of this historical development. Jake Briegel, Red Carey, and Everette Harris all came to Long Beach in the 1920s to seek better opportunities; they found jobs in the oil business that paid more than they could have earned back home. Nahum Emery, born in southern California, found similar opportunities. Charles Armin came to Long Beach at the end of the Depression and went to work for the oil workers union. While Emery and Harris worked their way into refinery management, Briegel became a journeyman pipe fitter and chose to remain in the union. Laura Carey, the wife of an oil worker, also lived the life of a "boomer."