Odessa College

Roustabout work was among the most basic and physically demanding jobs in the field, involving the maintenance and repair work needed around producing wells and leases.

Armstrong eventually advanced beyond the entry-level position, becoming a foreman, lease operator, production supervisor, and later an instructor at Odessa College.

Her career was remarkable partly because women doing that kind of work were still so rare.

Another example came from the Texas Panhandle in the early 1980s, where Tamara George went to work as a roustabout.