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Herley, James E. (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Herley's single interview was conducted in his office in a tiny building among oil wells and otherwise undeveloped land at the foot of Signal Hill. The interviewer was introduced to Herley other people she'd met while working on the project to study oil's influence in Long Beach. 3/18/1982
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- 2020-12-17
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- SUBJECT BIO - James Herley went into the family oil drilling and investment business when he wanted to have a family and support them in a comfortable manner. He has seen many changes in the business as the market for oil has evolved and the oil under southern California has been pumped out. Earlier in his life, Herley wanted to become a musician or music teacher, but didn't find a way to earn enough money in that way. In this single interview, Herley talks about growing up in Long Beach and learning about music. In retrospect, he appreciates the teachers who encouraged him. Some worked for the local school system and some at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. After graduating from high school he majored in music at USC and taught local students and played with the Long Beach Symphony. His wife was also a music teacher and he continues his interest in local musical training programs including those at both Long Beach City College and CSULB. Herley's interview was part of a project to study the impact of the discovery of oil on Long Beach. TOPICS - oil industry; migration; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Wilmington, California; Long Beach Symphony; Herley Petroleum Company; and Virginia Country Club;oil industry; St; Luke's Episcopal Church; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Wilmington, California; Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the Pike;
- *** File: pejherley1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:38)... Introduction Herley was born in Long Beach in 1925. His father came to California from Pennsylvania and was a machinist by trade. In Long Beach he first worked as a machinist; gradually he got into the business of buying and selling used pipe and then he got into oil drilling. Cherry Avenue was the center of oil business during the 1920s boom. Around 1930 he opened his own pipe and supply business. He drilled oil wells with partners such as Paul Kelley, Dan Elliott, John Alford and Ira Marshall. (3:38-5:03)... Herley doesn't remember much about 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. He doesn't think it impacted his father's business. About this time, devices were made for wells that expanded and contracted during earthquakes. (5:03-7:42)... Herley's father expanded his business beyond selling pipe into drilling oil wells. One place he drilled was Huntington Beach which was the first oil field where drilling extended out under the ocean. Herley's father also drilled oil wells in Montbello and Wilmington. When someone brought in a new well, others scrambled to lease nearby land to drill additional wells. If a new oil pool was discovered in an area where houses have already been built, there are even more difficulties. It's not as easy as finding a drilling site in the middle of a pasture. Sometimes promoters assembled the property of several home owners into a community lease. (7:42-9:16)... Royalties to land owners are usually 16 2/3 percent of gross production of oil and gas. Sometimes investors buy a portion of the royalties or people who put up money or equipment to help with the drilling get portions of the profits. (9:16-11:51)... Herley remembers living in rented apartments and frequently moving from one to another while growing up. Herley was in high school before they lived in their own home. Long Beach seemed like a smaller and sleepier town then than it does now. His family moved to Bixby Knolls in about 1940 and it was just being developed. He could see the rolling hills. His family lived all over Long Beach. Park Estates, near CSULB, was just beginning to be developed when he moved there after he married in 1954. (11:55-15:08)... Herley attended Franklin Jr. High. Although his family moved around, he took the bus and continued attending the same school. The orchestra teacher at Franklin Jr. High was one of the most inspiring teachers he ever had and the school had a terrific music program. Then he went to Poly High and continued to play the flute in orchestra at there and then he played for a while with the Long Beach Symphony. (15:08-17:36)... Herley went to USC and majored in music. He taught for awhile but couldn't make any money. His father told him that he'd come into the oil business one day. He decided that was the best thing for him to do, especially when he wanted to get married and have family. But about that time, the business was starting to go downhill. They sold his father's pipe and supply business as well as his drilling business, but they held on to leases and, for a long time, he wondered if there would be any future in the oil business. (17:36-20:20)... There were, at the time of the interview, oil wells around the office of Herley Petroleum, but most of them belonged to someone else. Herley's father drilled 3 other oil wells in Long Beach but none of them turned out to be worth much. The fields where he father was more successful were in areas such as Huntington Beach, Wilmington, and a few in Oxnard and up the Ridge Route. There was a movement in the 1950s to move the Long Beach civic center to a place near the location of the Petroleum Club at the time of the interview. It was nearer the geographical center of town and the area was relatively undeveloped. But that move never happened. (20:20-21:26)... When the San Diego Freeway (405) was built across Long Beach, his father's company lost its office on Cherry and they had to move. The little office he was using at the time of the interview was on Pasadena Street company when the freeway was built; the building was moved and the company moved into it. The company was changed by the freeway. (21:26-25:18)... There were oil wells around the permitter of the Los Cerritos residential area but he doesn't think there were oil wells near Virginia Country Club. His parents belonged to the country club and his mother always said his father played golf until he joined. His father's home on Virginia Road backed up to the Country Club and was built in 1941 and 1942. Before it was finished, some building materials were getting to be hard to come by. During WWII antiaircraft shells that were fired from guns near the Long Beach airport landed near their house. (25:18-28:38)... In 1954 Herley's father and some friends, oil men and doctors, started on a fishing trip to Mexico on Les Callahan's yacht. When the yacht caught on fire, they were stranded. Soon the Coast Guard came along and rescued them; the only casualty was a doctor who broke his ankle jumping into the rescue ship. His father felt fortunate to have survived that incident, but later that year he passed away of unrelated causes at age 58. When his father got sick, local doctors couldn't seem to find the cause, so he went to the Mayo clinic where they did exploratory surgery, but he still died. *** File: pejherley2.mp3 (0:09-1:49)... During the oil boom, there was a close relationship among men in the oil business, and certain attorneys, engineers, geologists, that worked with them. Herley doesn't have too many first hand memories of the boom times, but he thinks the economy is different now. There are fewer independent oil operators and more of the oil business is done by large corporations. There are, however, still opportunities of one looks for them. (1:49-4:36)... Herley's father had been raised as a Catholic and his mother as a Protestant. He just wasn't raised in any church. When he was in jr. high school, he got to know Ripley Dorr who led the Choristers (Boy's Choir) at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. He played his flute sometimes at the church. Dorr took Herley and a friend sailing in Alamitos Bay and shared his love of music with them. His family lived near St. Luke's during the 1933 earthquake and saw the damage there and in other areas in Long Beach. (4:36-6:35)... As a result of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, there seemed to be more damage along Anaheim street than in other parts of town. His relatives from back east were very concerned about them. When the earthquake struck, he and his mother were alone in an upstairs apartment, listening to the radio. They tried to reach each other, but fell down. Then they ran outside and were lucky they weren't hit by falling roof tiles. When his father got home, they, along with friends, went up to Signal Hill because they heard that a tidal wave was coming. After that, they stayed with his grandparents in Wilmington. (6:35-7:59)... He was an only child but, on his father's side, he quite a few cousins. They seemed to keep moving to California from Pittsburgh. They had many family outings; they played volleyball, went fishing and on summer vacations together. There were many undeveloped areas where he rode his bicycle and played. (7:59-11:17)... Long Beach was a good place to grow up. His mother wasn't much of a joiner but she did belong to the LA Philharmonic Women's Group. She was ticket chairman for about 5 years and was very successful at it. She made a lot of friends in that group. She was inspired by the fact that he was interested in music. Music must have inborn in him; no one else in his family is interested in it. His mother played the piano a little and used to play for dances in South Dakota. But he wanted to become a professional musician. (11:17-14:15)... His parents met at a dance at the old Majestic Ballroom,. They rode the Cyclone Racer roller coaster on the Pike together. It was near the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium and Rainbow Pier. Many traveling concert artists came to Long Beach and played in that auditorium. He got to hear many of them. There were many music teachers in Long Beach including Ethel Willard Putnam and Fred Ohlendorf who taught in public schools and had a music camp in mountains. (14:15-19:42)... The music program in the public schools had some good teachers, but now they do not have the funding they used to have. His wife, Shirley, has a graduate degree from Oberlin Conservatory . They met in local music circles; both were members of the Music Teachers Association. She taught in Jane Stanley's studio for a while, then had her own studio. He also had a music studio in town but turned his back on all of that when he went into the oil business. He's played at Long Beach City College and CSULB. He knew Jerry Daniels and believed he was a terrific educator. When he first started in the oil business, he took an oil technology class at City College with other sons of oil men. It was a very good class. (19:42-21:25)... The oil business has had a big shot in the arm as oil prices have risen. Before that, he was wondering if he was going to have to abandon the properties he owned. He believes oil prices will continue to go up as more oil is used up and less is available. This makes marginal oil wells worth holding on to; it also makes it worthwhile to spend money reworking them. End of tape
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