Liston F. Hills (1914-1991) began working for Standard Oil of California (Socal) in 1937 as an electrical engineer. Socal ultimately became one of the four parent companies of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) which included Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon), Socony Vacuum (Mobil) and the Texas Oil Company (Texaco). Hills first went to Saudi Arabia in August, 1938 as an employee of Socal. While there he helped bring electricity to the palace of King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud.
During World War II, Liston Hills left Aramco to serve as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He returned to Saudi Arabia in 1946, bringing his wife, Fern, their children Pat, Claudia, Cynthia, David and Paula, with him. His family had lived in Sacramento, California before moving to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The Hills family stayed in Saudi Arabia until 1955, at which point they moved to The Hague in the Netherlands. Hills returned to Saudi Arabia in 1960. He became President and Chairman of the Board of the Aramco Overseas Company in 1971, but retired in 1973 following a heart attack. He died in 1991.
Aramco began business as the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (or Casoc) when Mr. Hills began working for the company. In 1944, Casoc became Aramco and in November of 1988, Aramco became Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 1938, Casoc drilled their first successful oil well in Saudi Arabia. That well, known as Dammam Number 7, signaled the viability of Casoc’s exploration of Saudi Arabia, and construction of the Casoc company compound of Dhahran began. The city of Dhahran, which consists entirely of the company compound, is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, near the Persian Gulf and a short distance west of downtown Khobar.
On July 8, 1939, an oil well, Dammam Number 12, exploded in flames. It burned at a rate of 10,000 barrels a day for ten days as workers struggled to put it out. It was one of the first oil well fires put out by a company on its own, without the aid of professional oil well firefighters.
The films depict life in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for employees of Aramco, as well as their families. Also shown in the films are scenes of desert life, Hills’ children and family (both at their home in California and their home in Dhahran), oil drilling operations, visits to the Persian Gulf and people frolicking on the dunes. The company compound of Dhahran (also known as az-Zahrān) and surrounding areas are also featured in the films. It also shows the fire at oil well Dammam Number 12.
The original films are not accessible due to preservation concerns. Arrangements can be made to view the film by contacting the Visual Materials Curator.
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact the Special Collections division of the University of Washington Libraries for details.
Donor: Pat Finlayson, 2006
The repository's original films cleaned, cored and rehoused by Hannah Palin, 2006.
Video duplicating master and viewing copies were made in 2006.
Processed by Laurel G. Evans and Marion Brown, 2009; Alden Lee, 2012; completed by Elizabeth Russell, 2014.
Desert camp with tents, cars and a large truck loaded with equipment. Shows Saudis (men, women and children), an oasis, a busy marketplace, ruins in the desert, the construction of a building, camels, a minaret, men doing laundry, and travel on a boat near oil drilling equipment. Concludes with fire at oil well Dammam Number 12.
1 reel (250 feet) : silent, color ; 8mm
Men standing by large pieces of equipment, probably control panels inside an Aramco building. Also shows Aramco housing and buildings, the surrounding desert landscape, donkeys pulling water from a well, camels transporting people and goods, the compound walls, people swimming in an oasis, men working, an oil rig and a group of men sharing coffee.
1 reel (200 feet) : silent, color and black and white ; 8mm
Mrs. Hills, probably at their California home, modeling the clothes she had made for her stay in Saudi Arabia. Family life in the Aramco compound of Dhahran, including children playing in the backyard or walking down residential streets. Aramco plane and a family waving goodbye.
This reel consists of many shorter pieces of black and white and color films spliced together by Mr. Hills, some very faded in quality.
1 reel (350 feet) : silent, black and white and color ; 8mm