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Emery, Nahum (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Emery was interviewed in his Lakewood home. Between the time of the previous interview and this one, he arranged to take the interviewer on a tour of the ARCO refinery in Carson, from which he was retired. Men who were still working there welcomed him warmly. 6/19/1980
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- 2020-10-05
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- *** File: lhownemery5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:31)... Emery worked as an operator on a cracking unit. The cracking was done by heat and pressure. Among the straight run products were gasoline, diesel, stove oil, kerosene, and fuel oil. A vacuum distillation unit was later built. The cracking unit, called a hydro-cracker, used hydrogen as a catalyst. Not much oil was recovered through this process and what remained was primarily solid coke. The coke was sometimes used for fuel, like coal. When industrial petroleum consumers were forced to consider air pollution, some such as Edison, could no longer use oil with a high sulfur content. (5:31-8:18)... As head operator on a unit Emery was responsible for the crew and making sure the unit was running properly. In a combination plant , there were 8 crew members and a head operator. The assistant operator's job was to make sure all of the instruments were working. The hot-pump roller was responsible for watching the pumps and the area around them. He watched the crude oil go through and out the coolers to the field. Other crew members transmitted the instrument readings a central control point. (8:18-10:23)... Emery stayed as head operator on the unit for 2 years, and then he worked relief as shift foreman and head operator. He did the relief work for about 3 years. After this he became shift foreman, in 1948. (10:23-14:40)... Emery moved to Compton a year after he was married. He and his wife lived there from 1931 to 1962. He was working the graveyard shift, 12:00-8:00 am, the day of the 1933 earthquake. After work that day he went to a service station to get his car serviced. Then he went home and went to bed. That's when the earthquake happened. He tried to get out of bed but was tossed back. His wife ended up with a large bruise on her side because she was tossed between the wall and the counter in the kitchen. After the quake they saw that their things had been moved around but that nothing was broken. When they opened their cupboards, the plates fell out and broke. After the quake a man knocked on their door to check on them. (14:40-19:36)... When he went to work that night, after the earthquake, he wasn't even sure if the refinery would still be there. There were a few broken oil lines but no fires. Everything was shut down and the aftershocks continued throughout the night. Many buildings had been demolished in the neighborhood where he lived and several people were killed. The Red Cross set up a kitchen to feed people in Compton. After the quake there was running water in his house, but no gas. Emery and his wife ate their meals at home and didn't have to go to the Red Cross soup kitchen. Some people went to there everyday even if they didn't need to. Emery felt there were others that needed it more then he and his wife did. (19:36-23:52)... There was a bakery near his house that was cracked and the top part of the building fell off. A local dentist was working on a patient at the time of the quake and was killed when his building collapsed. Few people had earthquake insurance at the time because the premiums were too high. If a fire resulted from the quake some people were able to get coverage on the fire damage. Oil refineries were closed down for about a week. They had to take care of some of the lines and make sure everything checked out. (23:52-28:13)... He joined a Masonic Lodge in 1928. Many of his friends and relatives were Masons. One of his uncles, who had been a Compton farmer, was master of Anchor Lodge in 1913. A co-worker was master in 1926 and another friend was master the year he joined. Attending lodge meetings was a "night out" for many of the farmers and something to look forward to. The Masonic Lodge building fell down in the earthquake and later the members rebuilt it at another site. He enjoyed attending the social activities of the lodge that met once a month and had entertainment. (28:13-32:19)... During WWII Richfield built a new cracking unit. Although Standard Oil had the patent for this particular unit, during WWII, other companies could build these units without paying any royalties. Many new units were built because the the war effort created an increased demand for petroleum products. The first years of the war the oil industry was considered nonessential, but soon the military had more equipment then they had fuel to run. Richfield received a plaque from the government acknowledging their contributions to WWII, including producing a great deal of aviation gasoline. The government gave them special flags to fly that signified they were working for the war effort. (32:19-34:50)... Not many workers from the Richfield refinery went to war because the company hired older workers. Shell hired younger workers and they were drafted into the military. Many Richfield workers went to work in the shipyards because the pay was higher and they could also work overtime and earn even more money. The oil workers unions agreed that they wouldn't strike during the war. They ended up getting really small raises or 3 or 5 cents during the war. Some workers in the aviation plants tripled their pre-war pay. He doesn't believe this situation contributed to the 1948 strike. (34:50-37:43)... During the 1948 strike everything was shut down. When the companies decided to start the plants again, every one in management, who wasn't on strike, worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week, for about 6 weeks until the strike ended. Managers slept in the plant and everyone wanted to be near a window until strikers outside started throwing rocks. Emery was nervous being there with a bunch of office workers. He had been a monthly employee for only about 6 months when the strike started. A lot of people thought he was still in the union so things were rough for him. (37:43-40:46)... His daughter was born while they were living in Compton. She grew up and went up to Compton Junior College; later she earned her teaching credential at Long Beach State. Emery played tennis for several years and also went swimming for fun. With his friends, he swam and surfed at Alamitos Bay and Colorado Lagoon. By the time the breakwater was put in, he wasn't really swimming much. When Rainbow Pier was built the sand started to pile up and this also killed the surf. He also liked to go to baseball and football games. (40:46-43:55)... Eventually he and his wife moved out of Compton and bought a house in Lakewood. By the time they left Compton they were 1 of only 2 white couples on their side of the street. Compton had built up a lot during the time he lived there. At the time of the 1933 earthquake many of the lots around his house were vacant. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Nahum Emery retired as a night superintendent of the ARCO oil refinery in Carson. He began as a laborer and worked his way up in the company as its name and refining processes changed. He held several different jobs along the way and observed many aspects of the oil refining process. In this three part interview, Emery talks about growing up in Long Beach and holding a variety of jobs even before leaving high school. He also discusses changes he saw in Long Beach and surrounding areas including those brought by the 1933 earthquake. The interviews were part of a project to study the impact of the discovery of oil on the development of Long Beach and the interviewer became acquainted with Emery when they were both volunteers at the Historical Society of Long Beach. TOPICS - leaving school; finding different jobs; and going to work at the Pan-American oil refinery;
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