Robert C. Lafferty papers, 1923-1982

Robert C. Lafferty (1904- ), a geologist, worked for Gypsy Oil Company (later Gulf Oil) from 1929-1930, Columbian Carbon Company, West Virginia, from 1930-1936, and Owens Libbey Owens Gas Department, West Virginia, from 1936-1942. During World War II, Lafferty was assigned to the Naval Air Transport Service Squadron VR-5 stationed at the Naval Air Station in Seattle, Washington, which provided logistical support for Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. He also made the first map of Alaska's North Slope. After leaving active duty, he opened a geological engineering office in Charleston, West Virginia, specializing in natural gas exploration and production from 1948-1954. Lafferty moved to Florida, where he was city engineer and director of public works in Daytona Beach and an engineer working on a ship motion simulator for the Navy Polaris submarine program at Cape Canaveral. He was transferred as a civil engineer to the Air Force Eastern Test Range where he monitored construction on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Lafferty retired in 1969.