A Quick Synopsis of Jessie Haver Butler’s Life
From Cowgirl to Congress is written in Jessie’s own words from her unpublished autobiography.
Each story is entertaining - accompanied by rare photographs and letters.
In 1978, a couple hundred people, gathered in Santa Monica to celebrate women and one person’s life, work and historic journey - Jessie Haver Butler. Jessie, 90 years of age, delivered an entertaining lecture and was honored for her work as a woman suffragist, being one of the first women lobbyists at the capital in Washington D.C. She also taught many famous people public speaking, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Alan Cranston. Eleanor Roosevelt publicly endorsed Jessie as a speech instructor and shared the podium with her. Lady Astor, Jessie's dear friend, wrote the forward for Jessie’s book, Time To Speak Up.
Jessie worked on woman’s voting rights beside Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul. All three were together on the front lines in D.C. when women got the vote in 1920.
Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Jessie’s father was one of the first cattlemen in Colorado. Her mother was into health and believed that no one should eat dinner. So Jessie and her brother had to steal vegetables from the neighboring farms to feed themselves and the ranch hands. When Jessie was ten years old, a series of unthinkable tragedies struck. Her mother died of food poisoning, and she was expected to perform all of her mother’s domestic duties including cleaning, cooking and caring for the family and the hired help. Later, in high school, a teacher helped Jessie get into Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, which propelled her into the middle of the suffrage movement.
Jessie’s first job, in 1909, was with the Macmillan Publishing Company in New York City where she attended several lectures given by Margaret Sanger and Mrs. Pankhurst. Next, she found a job helping design and put together the Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia University with Professor Cunliffe. After that, she became a statistician and an investigator for the Massachusetts State Minimum Wage Commission, which changed the wage form $4.00 to $8.00 a week.
Jessie then moved to Washington D.C. where she became one of the
first women lobbyists at our country’s Capitol.
She represented the Consumers League of Washington, and worked hard to get a minimum wage for all women. She won over Congressman Ben Johnson of Kentucky, no small feat as he was famous for his discriminate manner towards women. Congressman Johnson thought that every woman’s place was in the home taking care of her family. In 1920, Jessie was hired by Carrie Chapman Catt as the lobbyist for the, newly formed, League of Women Voters during the last stages of the suffrage battle.
Jessie dined with Alice Paul every day, at her headquarters across the street from the White House. Alice, who had a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics, asked Jessie to join her in the suffrage struggle. But Jessie declined and joined Carrie Chapman Catt instead. Though Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt were complete opposites, their birthdays were only two days apart. Carrie Chapman Catt believed in speaking on a platform along with parliamentary procedure. Alice Paul burned the President’s speeches in Lafayette Park, and was arrested. Jessie believed women might not have received the vote without both of these women, each speaking out in their own way. Jessie toured the country with Mrs. Catt, lecturing for women’s suffrage. Jessie and her platonic friend, Hugh, sat in the balcony of the United Sates Senate when President Wilson came to ask the Senate to vote for women’s suffrage. She was there on the front lines the day women won the right to vote on August18th, 1920.
Due to a lack of housing during World War I, Hugh Dewitt Butler, a Welshman, worked
with Jessie to develop one of the first coed housing situations in Washington D.C.
They rented a huge home, hired a cook and a maid, and invited both professional men and women to live there. At first Hugh and Jessie were just friends. Each thought that they would never marry as their friendship continued to develop over a period of four years. Jessie secretly married Hugh on December 6, 1920 in New York City. On December 12, the couple sailed to London to live for eight years where Hugh became the Second Secretary of Commercial Attaché at the American Embassy. There Hugh wrote a thousand page book about the pros and cons of using coal in England.
In 1928, Jessie and Hugh were presented to Queen Mary and King George at the Court of St James’s. Except for ambassador’s wives, no one else at the American Embassy had ever been presented to the Court of St James’s. Instead of the customary 2,000 pounds, Jessie settled on a copy of a French gown costing ten pounds, or around forty dollars that she had purchased at a store on Shaftesbury Avenue. She was the only attendee singled out by The New York Times to describe her dress with a direct quote put into The London Times the next day. Soon after, at another gathering, Jessie spoke directly to Queen Mary. The Queen asked her “Oh, so you are from America?” “Yes, your Majesty. And do you know American women are very much interested in your Majesty?” Queen Mary replied, “Oh, indeed! And why are they interested in us?” To which Jessie answered, “I think, Your Majesty, they would like to know just how good a housekeeper you are.” At this the queen threw her head back and laughed heartily. The newspapers wrote an article on the discussion two days later.
Both Hugh and Jessie sat with George Bernard Shaw at the Fabian Summer School for two summers. A teetotaler and a vegetarian, Bernard Shaw invited Jessie to lecture on Prohibition and later, asked her to repeat the lecture several times in London.
During that time period, the couple celebrated the birth of their two children, Rosemary and Richard. They returned to America in May 1928. Later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt assigned Hugh to head up the creation of the new Social Security System.
Jessie conducted many speech classes for the wives of diplomats in this time period. Eleanor Roosevelt publicly endorsed Jessie several times and spoke at the opening of her speech classes. After her book, Time to Speak Up, was published, she went on “Cavalcade of Books”, followed by several cross county speaking tours.
Jessie lectured for women’s rights until she was ninety-four years old.
As a proud member of The National Organization for Women, NOW, she was honored several times in Los Angeles. Jessie is also one of the five suffragettes featured in the book From Parlor to Prison by Sherna Gluck widely used for women's studies.
Jessie came from unspeakable tragedies in her early family life to live an eventful life as a very influential woman. “From the time I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to help women, and I really have done it.”
Every woman in the United States today owes their voting rights to Jessie and the others who fought so bravely for women’s suffrage. In 1978, Marlo Thomas, Gloria Steinem and a couple hundred others, gathered in Santa Monica to raise money and celebrate women. They invited Jessie to speak with them that summer’s day and talk about her life, work and historic journey. Jessie Haver Butler - suffragist, lobbyist, speaker, writer, mother and teacher.