Other
Butler, Jesse Haver (audio interview #6 of 11)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview covered the period after Butler's return to the United States from England and her activities in public speaking. The interview process itself was uneventful. 1973-01-31
- Date
- 2020-01-29
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
- Keywords
- Handle
- Language
- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - Jesse Haver Butler served as a lobbyist for the National Consumers League in Washington, D.C. during which time she came into contact with activists in the National Woman's Party. In 1919-1920, she toured the western states with Carrie Chapman Catt during the ratification drive for the woman's suffrage amendment. Raised on a ranch in Colorado, Butler was determined to attend Smith College. She graduated from there in 1918 and went to work for first for the Massachusetts Minimum Wage and then moved to Washington D.C. to serve as a lobbyist for the National Consumers League. In Washington, she ate lunch regularly at the National Women's Party headquarters, and came into contact with many of the women involved with the picketing of the White House. After she toured the western states with Carrie Chapman Catt during the ratification drive for the woman's suffrage amendment, she married and went with her husband to England. On her return to the US, she began a new career, teaching public speaking to women. A full life history of approximately 12 hours was recorded with Butler, between November 1972 and the spring of 1973, when she was 88 years old, in her apartment in a retirement community in LaVerne, California. She had come to public attention as a result of her participation in the 1970 celebration of women's suffrage. A woman of commanding presence, with a vigorous voice and persona, Butler was highly committed to the goals of the Feminist History Research Project and to the women's liberation movement. In the course of the several years following the interview, she regularly spoke on college campuses and to women's groups and remained very involved working on child care issues with the local chapter of NOW. TOPICS - Topics covered on this side of the tape include: Butler's life and activities in England; her return to the US and move to Massachusetts; and the beginning of her involvement with the General Federation of Women's Clubs;Topics covered on this side of the tape include: Butler's evolving relationship with the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the beginning of talks to the group; the family move to Washington, D; C;
- *** File: sufjhbutler10.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:47)... Tape introduction (2:47-9:01)... While living in England, Butler developed rheumatism and her friend, Lady Walker Smith, suggested that she travel to Baden Baden, Germany and seek medical treatment. She describes her treatment, cost, and the doctor who treated her, whose brother ostensibly was responsible for directing Adolph Hitler's new financial program. She discussed with her the difficulty she was having adjusting to a life without a career and her fears of becoming a housewife. The doctor gave her a plan for the span of her life - something American women didn't get. Although they got the right to vote, they did not know what to do once they were married. There was no advice for women on how to manage their career and marriage. Upon marriage, many women gave up their careers and their public work for a life of domesticity, which was something Butler did not want and for which was not trained. The doctor advised her to return to England and seek assistance from British women, who were efficient in managing their households and families while still having time to pursue a public life. Because she was used to a career and public activities, it was integral to her happiness to continue these activities after she married and had children. (9:01-9:53)... When she returned to England, Lady Walker Smith assisted her in developing an efficient household. Butler eventually gave birth to her daughter and son and returned to a public life as a speaker, teacher, and writer. (9:53-13:42)... Butler was fascinated with the language fluency of the British and the fact that British children could carry on conversations with adults at a very early age. The British system of employing governesses to care for children helps with the personal and intellectual growth of children. They learn how to communicate before they are in school. And then from kindergarten up every child is required to write or speak in front of an audience every week. (13:42-17:31)... She and her husband often attended the meetings held by men campaigning for a seat in the House of Commons. The wives of these candidates would speak on the same platform as their husbands in support of their candidacy. When a British man seeking a political position in England chooses his wife, he looks for a woman who will act as a good hostess and can speak well. This occurred during a time when husbands in America kept their wives under cover.; they were supposed to be in the home to "fry the bacon and mend the men's socks." When Butler was told about the teachings of Madame d'Esterre, she visited her home and was astonished by this woman's unique appearance and sparse living conditions. Madame d'Esterre did not charge a set fee for her lessons, but requested that her patrons determine the amount she deserved for their lessons and place the money into a box located at the entrance to the classroom. Butler invited her to teach a course in public speaking at the American Woman's Club. (17:31-22:21)... After Butler finished the speaking course, she became interested in the cooperative movement in England. A Woman's Cooperative Guild was formed to teach women how to purchase goods and how to handle their finances. The Guild held large meetings and Butler was invited to speak from an American woman's perspective. However, many of the working class women were suspicious of Butler because her husband worked for the American Embassy. Butler succeeded in gaining their interest and she traveled around England giving lectures on American history and the pioneer age. She also spoke about her career with the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission and the exploitation of women in industry. Many British women were suffering from this exploitation, particularly children, who were not protected by a child labor law. She did not receive any wages for her lectures and her expenses were paid by her husband. At this time, she did not think of her lectures as a career. She rented a guest room in her house to pay for the governess who cared for her children while she was speaking for the Woman's Cooperative Guild. (22:21-26:23)... After eight years in England, an American government employee came to England and discussed the possibility of them returning to the United States. At the time, they did not want to leave England because they were completely adjusted to the country and were very happy there. Her husband was offered a position as the head of the Department of Commerce in New England. Although she did not want to leave England, she was happy to return to New England. When they returned to the US, they purchased a home in Needham, Massachusetts and she was faced with establishing a household and a life according to the training she had received in England. Her English governess trained a Swedish woman who worked as a governess for Butler for six months. (26:23-29:23)... When they purchased their home in Needham, Massachusetts, she decided to rent the third floor to some teachers so that she could pay for the governess and any other employees she hired to work in the house. She did not believe it was her husband's responsibility to pay for the household employees. She joined a club that was part of the General Federation of Women's Club. The club had 600 members with eight committees and an elaborate program for community improvement that was developed by the state and national General Federation of Women's Clubs. (29:23-33:29)... The members of the women's club were amateurs in their public speaking abilities. Butler's husband suggested that she teach some speech classes. After the women discovered that Butler was presented at the Court of St. James, they requested that she give a presentation of her experiences there. Every month, the women's club held a business meeting that included a luncheon and a short program. The chairwoman of the women's club informed Butler that she should be paid for her lectures, but because she was a member this was not possible. However, the chairwoman began inviting members of other women's clubs around the Needham, Massachusetts area so that Butler could be paid for her speeches. Butler used the money she received to pay for her governess and housekeeper. During her presentations, she also talked about the skills she learned from British women on childcare and family life. She launched a public speaking career and obtained an agent in Boston, Massachusetts. She was making $2,000-3,000 per year and received between $50-150 each time she spoke at a women's clubs. She bought a car and learned how to drive so that she could get herself to the meetings. (33:29-36:22)... During the time she was building a career in public speaking, her Swedish governess left because her visa ended. The combination of finding another governess and speaking became very stressful for Butler. Many women were jealous of Butler because she was able to pursue a career and public activities while someone else cared for her children. Even her sister remarked on the fact that Butler would have to take care of her own children now that there was no one else to do it for her. However, she recalled the comments of the doctor who treated her in Baden Baden that some American women would prefer domestic work and child care to working in factories. She went to an employment office and after explaining what the responsibilities of a governess were, she was told that there were several women who would be interested in the position. (36:22-40:12)... Two weeks later, she returned to the employment office where several women waited to be interviewed for the governess position. All of the women she interviewed were skilled for the position; some were retired teachers. Butler ultimately decided on a Scottish woman who was a very intellectual and cultured woman. (40:12-44:45)... Before making her final decision, she decided to take the Scottish woman home to her children because they were a good judge of character. Both of the children invited this woman to become their governess and she accepted. Butler discusses some of the techniques the governess used to train the children to be well behaved, including allowing them to eat with their parents only when the governess was away. end of tape *** File: sufjhbutler11.mp3 (0:00-1:46)... The tape begins with a discussion of the governess's talents in caring for Butler's children. Butler was very pleased with her governess because of the activities she arranged for her children, including taking them into Boston to visit the museums and to the YWCA to learn how to swim. The children were very happy during this period, and learned a great deal from the instruction and tutelage of this woman. (1:46-4:16)... When she lectured for the women's clubs she did so during the day and usually during her lunch hour. She usually did this once a week. Most of the members of the women's clubs were unskilled in public life and joined the club for leadership training. It took approximately 25 years to become a national president for the General Federation of Women's Clubs. After approximately a year, the League of Women Voters in Cambridge, Massachusetts asked that Butler teach some speech classes there, which were very successful. She then taught some classes for the Republican Women's Club in Boston. Within 5-6 years she taught 33 public speaking courses in and around Boston, Massachusetts. She also taught a course for the Women's City Club, which really launched her career in public speaking. Women were brought in from all over the Boston suburbs to hear her lectures. She eventually traveled into the suburbs and taught courses to women living in the area. (4:16-7:15)... Her public speaking courses consisted of eight lessons a week. She did not charge high fees because public speaking courses were fairly new at the time. Gradually, public speaking courses were incorporated into the overall training program that women received when they joined a women's club. As women became trained public speakers, coupled with their other training courses, they felt more confident to move up into different positions within the women's club system. Butler began to see that teaching public speaking courses was developing into a career. She also thought it was important for her to obtain formal training in public speaking. (7:15-9:28)... When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, he terminated all of the federal employees that worked under the presidency of J. Edgar Hoover. As a result, Butler's husband left his position and accepted a highly paid position with a private industry in Wooster, Massachusetts. However, he was not trained for private industry and his employment was a failure. She found Wooster to be a very backwards factory town. She may have taught a few classes while living there, but recalls that she and her husband were out of their element. The only persons who had status in the town were the wives of high executives who worked at the factory. (9:28-14:01)... Her husband worked at the factory in Wooster for only one month and was terminated because he was unqualified for the position. The vice president of the factory agreed to pay her husband six months salary out of his own pocket as a severance package. When her husband began looking for a new position in New England, they discovered that only people who graduated from Harvard or who were from high-status families were successful at getting positions there. Her husband spent several months looking for a job and began to look very ill. He decided to return to Washington, DC to seek employment. When they returned to Washington, DC, they had no jobs and no place to live. She was faced with the challenge of figuring out what she would do with her children. She contacted the superintendent of a private school in Colorado Springs, who agreed to teach her daughter for $50 a month. Her daughter spent two years studying with this woman, while a family friend took Butler's son to Florida, where he stayed for one year. (14:01-16:16)... After she sent her children away, she and her husband were free to struggle with their employment problems. They took up residence in a boarding house. She decided to enroll in the public speaking program at George Washington University. She studied under W. Hayes Yeager, who was one of the leading public speaking teachers in the US at the time. She was 45 years old when she enrolled in George Washington University. She attended the university for two years and took every course in public speaking. She attended courses every day and studied in the library for 6-8 hours a day. Although she was often mocked by the younger students enrolled in the program, after approximately three months she became skilled in gaining the attention of a younger audience. (16:16-18:04)... Professor Yeager provided her with a program in public speaking and at the end of two years she was within three points of receiving a masters degree. She was advised not to continue for a doctorate, but rather to get involved in the woman's movement where leadership was being developed. At that time, her goal was to teach public speaking to women involved in the movement. (18:04-19:12)... In approximately 1935-1936, after she finished her courses at George Washington University, she met a singing teacher and singer for the Christian Science Church in Washington, DC. who offered to let Butler use her studio to teach her first public speaking course. She sent out several announcements for the course and approximately 20 women attended the course. Mrs. Harvey Wiley, an formerly active suffragist who had been the legislative agent for the National Woman's Party, and was then legislative agent for the General Federation of Women's Clubs, attended Butler's public speaking course. Although she was a very skilled woman, she was a poor public speaker. (19:12-21:23)... When she began teaching her public speaking course she and her husband were still living in a boarding house and she did not have to worry about housework or cooking. This arrangement was quite an adjustment and oftentimes difficult. However, she was very focused on her education and career, which made it easier for her and her husband to deal with the absence of their children and the stress of their lives. The second year they were in Washington, DC, her husband became one of the first employees of the Social Security Administration earning the same salary he was making when they married in 1920. However, they were still receiving $600 a month from his previous employer at the factory in Wooster, Massachusetts. (21:23-26:34)... As a student of Professor W. Hayes Yeager at George Washington University, she was excited about his teaching philosophy. She often used his tactics to teach her classes and as a result, her students could speak very well by the end of only four classes. She ultimately taught three classes at the Congressional Club for Women, where all of the wives of the congressmen, senators, and diplomats were members. She also gave her speech on the pomp and pageantry at the Court of St. James. After the first class she taught at the Congressional Club for Women, she sent out 2000 announcements to members of the Congressional Club advertising her new classes at the All Souls Unitarian church. However, only three women enrolled in her first course there, two of whom were the presidents of local clubs, and the third who was the wife of Harry Englebright, the California congressman. At the end of the eight-week course, Mrs. Englebright praised Butler's teaching abilities and suggested that she have Eleanor Roosevelt introduce her class the next year. The next summer Mrs. Inglebright wrote to Mrs. Roosevelt and requested that she open Butler's class the following fall. In 1939, 500 people filled the auditorium to hear Mrs. Roosevelt speak when she introduced Butler's public speaking course.
- Rights Note
- This repository item may be used for classroom presentations, unpublished papers, and other educational, research, or scholarly use. Other uses, especially publication in any form, such as in dissertations, theses, articles, or web pages are not permitted without the express written permission of the individual collection's copyright holder(s). Please contact the CSULB Library Administration (http://www.csulb.edu/library/Common/SubmittedForms/digital_rep_request.html) should you require permission to publish or distribute any content from this collection or if you need additional information or assistance in using these materials.
Relationships
- In Collection:
Items
| Thumbnail | File information | Actions |
|---|---|---|
|
0128376888200641-sufjhbutler10.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
9468592512485876-sufjhbutler11.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
6508930083308217-BUTLERm.JPG Public
|
Download |
|
|
1694830743306818-BUTLERy.JPG Public
|
Download |
|
|
9737878233495758-sufjhbutler1.jpg Public
|
Download |
|
|
7386804267833327-sufjhbutler2.jpg Public
|
Download |