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G.R. Brainard, Jr. papers, 1929-1976

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Brainard, G.R., Jr., 1910-
Title
G.R. Brainard, Jr. papers
Dates
1929-1976 (inclusive)
1961-1976 (bulk)
Quantity
5.40 cubic ft. (12 document boxes)
Collection Number
10685
Summary
Correspondence, daily notes, company records and history, and energy-related speeches of this petroleum engineer and oil exploration company president.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
The creation of the EAD-version of this finding aid was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

Guy Reed “Pete” Brainard, Jr. was born September 26, 1910 in Artesia, New Mexico to parents Guy Reed and Carrie Irene (Eycke) Brainard. He attended junior college at the New Mexico Military Institute then entered Louisiana State University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1932. He married Lola Ward in September 1933 and had two sons, Stephen and Daniel.

Brainard’s long career in the oil business started in 1931 as a roughneck for Pugh-Hickman Drilling Company in Shreveport, Louisiana. After graduating from LSU, he joined Mid-Kansas Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of Ohio Oil (Marathon), as a roustabout, switcher, and gangpusher. In 1936, he was employed by Shell Oil Company as an exploitation engineer in the production department at Kilgore, Texas. When World War II began, Brainard was working in Shell’s Houston office. He left in March 1942 for service in the U.S. Army as an officer and company commander of an automotive maintenance battalion in the Pacific.

After the war, Brainard went back to work for Shell Oil as assistant district superintendent in Odessa, Texas, then transferred to Hobbs, New Mexico, where he became district superintendent. He left Shell in 1948 to work for Seaboard Oil Company of Dallas, Texas as assistant production manager. In 1950, he resigned from Seaboard and became production manager and vice president of Lucerne Corporation, an independent oil producer in Dallas. When Lucerne was sold in 1956, Brainard started working for Drilling and Exploration Company (Drilexco/D & E) in Dallas as vice president of the production company. He was elected president of Drilexco in 1961.

In 1963, Sinclair Oil bought D & E’s production and moved Brainard to Denver. He was transferred to Tulsa in 1965 as executive vice president of Sinclair Oil and Gas. When the company merged with Atlantic Richfield in 1969, Brainard became the manager of the Mid-Continent District. Brainard retired from ARCO in 1975 to raise Black Angus cattle on the L P Ranch near Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

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Content Description

The G.R. Brainard, Jr. papers contain a large amount of personal correspondence as well as records related to his work with the Foundations of New Mexico Military Institute and Louisiana State University.

The professional files contain records related to Brainard’s presidency of Drilling and Exploration Company. There is a substantial amount of correspondence. Notepads entitled “Daily Notes” describe meetings, events, and business transactions of the company. There are financial statements of D & E, a history of the company written about its inception in 1929 through 1952 by J.E. Brantly, and a list of Drilexco “Firsts,” noting the company’s achievements. The sale and dissolution of the company to Sinclair Oil and Gas is also recorded.

The files of energy speeches were speeches written and delivered by Brainard before various groups and include related correspondence to those appearances as well as research notes.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, G.R. Brainard, Jr. papers, 1929-1976, Collection Number 10685, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

Related Materials

There are no other known archival collections created by G.R. Brainard, Jr. at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information

G.R. Brainard, Jr. donated his papers to the American Heritage Center in 1977.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Ronda Frazier in June 2003.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Processed by Ronda Frazier
2003;2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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