Edwin Boyd Alderson Sr. was born on January 14, 1915, in El Dorado, Union County, Arkansas.
Alderson witnessed the first El Dorado oil wells come in as a child, and worked in the oil fields for Woodland Oil Company and others from the time he was in his teens. In 1935 he went to work full time for the Lion Refinery before joining Marine Oil Company. Alderson eventually served as president of Marine Oil before its merger with Murphy Oil Corporation in 1955.
Alderson transitioned into being an independent oil producer and founded Arkansas Lightweight Aggregate Corporation and Jet Asphalt & Rock Co., Inc. He was appointed to the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission in 1969 by Governor Rockefeller, where he served until 1997.
E. Boyd Alderson Sr. passed away October 6, 2010.
Please be advised that this oral history contains language that may be deemed racist and/or derogatory to historically marginalized groups.
#1: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with E. Boyd Alderson, Sr. at the Alderson residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with E. Boyd Alderson at the Alderson residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with E. Boyd Alderson at the Alderson residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with E. Boyd Alderson at the Alderson residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
