This is an edited transcript of an oral history interview of Larry Kibble conducted by Peter J. Westwick. Topics covered in the interview include: manufacturing in aerospace industry; training of shop floor workers; minority groups in aerospace; and labor relations in aerospace. Larry Kibble was an African-American manufacturing worker and manager for Lockheed. His father worked for Lockheed from 1942 to the late 1960s. Larry graduated high school and took classes at L.A. City College before joining Lockheed as a tooling assistant in 1967. The following year he was drafted and entered the Air Force as a radar operator and weapons tech on a Lockheed EC-121. After four years in the service he returned to the Lockheed shop floor in 1972, working his way up to line supervisor in 1975 and department manager in 1978; in 1980 he joined the Skunk Works, where he worked on production of the F-117A. In 1996 he became director of manufacturing at the Skunk Works and in 2001 director of quality assurance. He retired in 2008 and lives in Palmdale. One of his sons now works for Lockheed in Fort Worth. [Object file name], Aerospace Oral History Project, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
