Oral history interview of Dorothy Rountree Budd

Collection:: Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
Title:: Oral history interview of Dorothy Rountree Budd
Creator:: Gardner, Robert D.
Budd, Dorothy Rountree, 1919-2012
Date of Original:: 2003-10-08
Subject:: Victory gardens
World War, 1939-1945--Georgia
Hawkins, Clint
Wells, Frank, Dr.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Wesleyan Female College (Macon, Ga.)
New York Philharmonic
People:: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Location:: United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Hapeville, 33.66011, -84.4102
United States, Georgia, Putnam County, Eatonton, 33.3268, -83.3885
Medium:: video recordings (physical artifacts)
hi-8
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: video/quicktime
Description:: In this interview, Dorothy Budd remembers life as a minister's wife during World War II. She helped minister to women whose husbands were overseas. She describes her sister's service in the Peace Corps in Europe. She used her skills at the piano to keep people's spirits up. When they lived in Hapeville, she used to take her son to watch the Delta and Eastern jets landing and taking off. She taught and continues to teach piano lessons.
Dorothy Budd was a minister's wife in Atlanta during World War II.
Dorothy Budd Interview – World War II Project Interviewer, Robert (Bob) Gardner. Present in addition: Mrs. Budd's daughter, Lillian Darden, and volunteer interviewer, Stephen Goldfarb. RG: [We are interviewing] Dorothy Rountree Budd, birth date March 15, 1919; current address is 813 Tower Circle in Atlanta, Georgia. Present at the interview are Stephen Goldfarb, Lillian Darden. Robert Gardner is conducting the interview. Mrs. Budd, can you tell me what war you'd like to talk to us about. DB: I'm sorry, I didn't understand you? RG: What war you'd like to talk to us about? DB: World War II. RG: World War II. Can you tell me what your first knowledge or first memories of World War II are? DB: Well, my husband was a Methodist minister, and he and I married in '41, and I didn't know two of the men in the wedding, they were friends of friends, because everyone was in service in one place or another. My husband had five brothers but only one of them could be at the wedding. And we married and moved to Warrenton, where he was pastor of the Methodist church. That was in June, '41. Then in December of that year, I was listening to the New York Philharmonic and they interrupted it and told of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was really startling. And from then on we just were involved with people whose family members were overseas and deaths of servicemen. The brother that was in the wedding was in the CBs in the Pacific area. And we moved from there to Eatonton after about a year and a half. He had already served some time there. And, what we noticed in Warrenton and Eatonton were the Army trucks going through from Atlanta to Augusta, just that one highway. And in Eatonton we tried to do what we were asked to do in the war effort. He planted a garden and the nut grass and Johnson grass nearly got him but we found the vegetables in the middle [laughter]. And I tried to can and [imitates explosion sound], but I finally did have some success with it. And that was part of the war effort. And, of course, coffee and sugar were rationed, which was certainly no hardship on anybody. We were just so, there was such an extreme feeling of patriotism then, I've never seen it at any other time. People were determined to do all they could for the war that would end war. And, as you know, that has not exactly happened. But then, we, let's see, we moved on to Hapeville. It was a small town then, with wonderful members of Delta and Eastern Air Lines as members. And there they did all they could for the war effort. My husband had a brother who was a chaplain. And he was at Guantanamo in Cuba during the war. And there, I was pregnant with Lillian at the time, and we, I belonged to a group of wives in a club whose husbands were overseas. And we had many wonderful friends and very sad occasions. My husband was minister to so many of the people whose family members had died. Ben Weinberg and another FAA member were killed in a plane crash during that time. And they left a wonderful family. Clint Hawkins was the other one. And we were there when peace was declared, the bomb was dropped. I couldn't help but feel for the civilians who were involved in the suffering from that, but it seemed to be the only way. But that was in about '45 then. RG: Your daily activities, when you husband was doing his ministry work to the families of the deceased soldiers, what did you do? DB: Oh, I was busy with music, I played for the worship services and taught piano, and just helped people who needed help. My husband was wonderful with ministering to people and I made a home for him and the children. RG: Did you have friends and relatives who went off into the military? DB: Yes, my brother was in the Army in the European field, and he got back home, and then, as I said, my husband's brother, one chaplain, one in the CBs, and just many friends whose husbands [served]. And some deaths, of course, which were very sad but they felt that they were doing something that was for a worthy cause. RG: How did you stay in touch with them? DB: By mail. RG: Did you send them any packages? DB: No, not that I remember. RG: Did they return your letters and tell you things that were going on with them? DB: Well, I found that they didn't like to talk about the war, the ones who were prisoners of war didn't like to tell of the hardships they had, but more of that has come out recently. I've heard from people about their experiences, and some of them were just unbelievable. RG: Do you still keep in touch with any of these people? DB: Yes, one or two of them are still living! RG: Is this by mail or do you occasionally get to visit? Keeping in touch, is this by mail or by phone or do you occasionally get a chance to get together with them. DB: Well, both. RG: Can you tell me some of the things that were hardships that you had happen to you during World War II? DB: I didn't feel that I had hardships. I felt that I would do all I could for the war effort, but I didn't have hardships. RG: Were there any restrictions on the travel that you and your husband did during the war, or did you do any travel to speak of? DB: No. RG: Were you able to get the sufficient gasoline and tires for your vehicle, or did you have a vehicle at the time to use? DB: Yes, we had one, we managed it, it was fine. RG: What kind of social activities did you have that you were able to participate in during the war? DB: Well, as I said I met with a group of women whose husbands were overseas, and the usual things that were going on. I took part in church activities mostly. RG: Were these activities related in any way to helping the war effort along? DB: Oh, yes, definitely, they all did what they could in cooperating in what we were asked to do as civilians. RG: Could you elaborate a little on the things that you were asked to do and the things that you did do during that time. DB: As I said, I tried to can, and I worked with my husband in the ministry of people who were bereft of loved ones. And I just, everything was different of course, but we were just so thankful when it was all over. RG: What are your memories of Pearl Harbor? When you heard about it. You were listening to the Philharmonic when you heard about it… DB: Well, it was just a shocker to everybody, I guess. It was a surprise attack. And I was just very saddened about it, but the United States seemed to rally after that and came around and …. RG: Did you have any friends or relatives that were there at Pearl Harbor? DB: No, I had friends [daughter suggests name, Bryant and Carl Moore]. Oh, yes. He was there and he had lots of stories. His wife went with him wherever she could when he was in the service. RG: Do you remember when the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when you heard the announcement of his death? DB: Yes. RG: Can you tell me what your reaction was to that? DB: Well, I was sorry. I was saddened. He had done a lot to help, when I was in college, I was in the NYA program and received help from one of the things that he had started. And he just was a very much loved president and we hated for, to give him up. RG: What did you think of President Truman? DB: Well, I thought he did a good job. He surprised everybody. RG: Where did you live at the time of the Second World War? DB: Well, I lived in parsonages, which is a home furnished for the minister and his wife in all the towns that I lived in, from Hapeville to Warrenton, no, Warrenton to Eatonton to Hapeville and then at Glenn Memorial, it was within walking distance of the church. That's an Atlanta church. RG: At the time that you lived in Hapeville, was the airport there? DB: Yes, and we could take our son and climb the stairs and just see the planes take off. We could get right to them, and he enjoyed all that. The first night I slept in that house with the planes going over my head, the noise bothered me, but I got used to it. And there were Delta and Eastern people in our church that were wonderful members. RG: Were there civilian and military planes at the airport at that time? DB: No, I don't know of any civilian… RG: What was air travel like then? Did you have an opportunity to fly at that time? DB: No, I didn't fly. I had never flown until we were at Glenn Memorial. Then I flew. And since then I've done a good bit. RG: Could you tell me a little bit about any of your relatives? About your sister, Virginia… DB: She was in the Peace Corps, was it, the recreation part of it in the European field. And she served over there and I thought that was a wonderful thing. And my brother in law was doctor in one of the hospitals in Lexington, Kentucky, and he did a lot with the servicemen who returned who were injured. RG: Did you or your husband have very much occasion to visit the servicemen that were in the hospitals in the Atlanta area recuperating during the war? DB: No, I didn't. He did. RG: Did he relate any of these experiences to you? DB: What? RG: Any of the experiences that he had with the soldiers that were recuperating in the hospitals. Did he tell you any stories about them? DB: No, but I know he meant a lot to them, and there was just, as I said, such a feeling of patriotism, that they were glad they could do that for the country. RG: You mentioned your reaction when the atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, of feeling sorry for the civilians. Did you have any thoughts about whether this would shorten the war or prolong the war at that time? DB: Well, yes, I thought it would, and it did. RG: Do you have any feelings as to whether this was something that was necessary and had to be done? DB: Well, I suppose so, that's the way that they seemed to feel, it's the only way, but I just hope war is over, of course, it's not. RG: Can you tell me about any experiences you had during your time here in Atlanta as far as the transportation, getting from one place to another, were there any problems with that during the war? DB: No, there was a bus service close to where I lived, and I used it. RG: Were there any restrictions on the type of food things you could purchase during the war? DB: Yes, but we lived without them. RG: What type of restrictions did you have? DB: Well, just most everything had some restriction on ‘em. But they weren't things that we had to have. RG: Did you find other alternatives to use, like, let's say, in the case of, I believe sugar was rationed at the time, did you find other items that you could use to sweeten things with? DB: No, I just learned to, I learned to drink coffee cold, and I learned to drink, eat without sweetener too much, just had to adapt. RG: Were there any other experiences that you had with the ladies groups that you'd like to tell us about? DB: No, I don't think so. We had the wonderful members in our church, Dr. Frank Wells and Dr. Jerry Wells. Jerry Wells, Jr., was killed in the service. And people like that. It was very sad to give up fine young men like that but we were just saddened by the deaths. RG: I know that the funerals would be very difficult, very hard on the people there. How was it on you and your husband? How did you cope with that, with all these deaths that you were ministering to the people in? DB: Well, he was a happy natured person and he didn't, we didn't dwell on it, it was just part of what we had to go through. RG: After a particularly stressful situation, was there anything that you or he did together to kind of help get over it? DB: I don't know of anything especially. No, I don't know of anything. RG: No long walks, or maybe talking together, or maybe you playing something particular on the piano for him? DB: Yeah, playing the piano. Well, the vocalists, whether they were good voices or bad voices, we'd just go on with it. RG: Was there any particular music that helped you and your husband during these times? DB: Well, the fine music, we loved the fine music, and it was certainly helpful to have that feeling, like the New York Philharmonic, the one I said I was listening to. Lillian Darden: Mother, you told me once about burning the original scores of Jewish composers and how upsetting that was to you, how little you knew about the Holocaust. DB: We just didn't know. They kept that out of the news. We didn't know until later how horrible that was and how mistreated the Jews were. And, I don't know how they kept it out of the news, but they did. And, it's just terrible to think…. LD: Very upsetting to you and to my father, I remember that's when he did the collaboration with the Temple, and they had the joint Thanksgiving service. DB: He preached there when the Temple had been bombed. And we shared services with the Jewish people for Thanksgiving. But that was a terrible thing, the bombing of the church. The Jewish people had so much to offer with the history of the church. LD: You remember, you told me about Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff and you were talking about the only thing you ever heard about on a news reel was burning the original scores of some of the…do you remember that? We haven't talked about it lately. The Jewish composers… DB: Yes, oh, yes. I do remember that. LD: You played their music on the piano… DB: They played that on the news reels. LD: That was one thing they showed you. DB: What a waste, what a loss. LD: But they didn't show the mistreatment of the human beings. DB. It was sad. RG: I understand you're still very active in teaching music. DB: Yes, and I play for things, I feel very much needed where I am because they have worship services and funerals and things that I play for, and happy times, too, of course. And, I'm glad I can. RG: During the war, were there any times where they were social gatherings, where it was festive? …. Where it was more of a festive atmosphere rather than working for the war effort? DB: Well, we tried to keep it that way, to keep people happy as we could with the times we were going through, of course. RG: Is there anything else that you'd like to add to this interview? DB: I don't know of anything. We, I was pregnant with Lillian at the time when we were in Hapeville and Dr. Frank Wells was such a wonderful doctor. He gave me some medicine, she hadn't come and my husband got sick. And so, he called and said he was going to give me something to make the baby come. And he would come by and pick me up, just call him when the pains were so much apart. So he came by in his car, and my husband and I sat on the back seat holding hands, and he chauffered us to Georgia Baptist Hospital. And he was so proud of her just like my husband was. RG: And when was this? DB: This was in '45, just, he had lived in a little brick house right in front of the railroad tracks, and always some member of him, not immediate family, but some member of the family living with them. He had four children and he never, but he was just so kind and so helpful. RG: Was this just before or just after the war ended? DB: Just after it ended. RG: So this was like a very nice present for you and your husband to receive after the war, this was a very joyous and happy event after all the tragedy and things that you had been involved with. DB: That's right. RG: I think that's wonderful. If there's nothing else that you'd like to add, or anything else about experiences in any other wars that you and your husband were involved in… DB: No, I think not. But I'm just hoping that things will be more peaceful. RG: We really appreciate your taking your time to do this interview. It's been my pleasure. Thank you. DB: [picks up again]….The NYA, I was at Wesleyan Conservatory, and the NYA supplemented with my having a job there. I worked, answered the phone, or anything that they had for me to do, and that was wonderful. And then the WPA was, they laughed about them and their shovels, leaning on their shovels, they got jobs, you know, doing work. And he started a number of things like that, Roosevelt, where they were very good. RG: Could you tell us a little about your experiences and how you started playing the piano? DB: Well, I just did it, it was just always a part of me. I did it through high school and played for my church, the Methodist church. And then later I was organist for the church in Atlanta for twenty years. And so I've just been into it all my life. SG: Is it easy to go from the piano to the organ? DB: No, I had a major in both, a piano and organ major. SG: At Wesleyan? DB: At Macon, at Wesleyan Conservatory, which it was then. It's not a conservatory anymore. Wesleyan in Macon is a college, but the conservatory was in the old building downtown and they had wonderful teachers there. It was a wonderful experience. SG: And what year did you graduate? DB: I finished in three years, and that was in '39. '40 actually was my class but I just went ahead without summer school, I just finished in three years, and that was good. SG: Did you take any more piano or organ training afterwards? DB: Yes, continuously, I would be in workshops and do anything that was offered. I went back, well, I received a post-graduate scholarship at Wesleyan and went back for an extra year there, but they didn't give a masters. SG: Tell us a little about teaching the piano over the years. You must have had dozens and dozens, maybe even hundreds of students. DB: Yes, I've had lots of them. I'm in a retirement center now and I have some of the residents, and that's good that they are doing that. One of them is trying to play for services and she doesn't ever know what key she's playing in and I'm trying to help her get better equipped to play for the services. And another one, she's just really a very good student. She went to the University of Maine, and is an advanced student, so we do a lot there, musically. LD: The students from the neighborhood come, too, the children…You still have the children coming, too, to take. DB: Oh, yes, the ones where they live, they drive across town and take from me until they finish high school. I have most of them for about ten years. You know, they start in about the third grade. I enjoy them. SG: What is your very favorite piano music? Do you like Chopin the best? DB: Oh, well, Chopin I guess. SG: No surprise there. DB: I appreciate the German composers, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, in that order. They are very wonderful, brilliant men, they just contributed a lot. LD: Tell us about your first job, in Vidalia, after you…. DB: Well, I taught at the college in Milledgeville first. LD: I was thinking about seventh grade. DB: Oh, yes, when I was the pianist at the Presbyterian Church. LD: How much money did you make? DB: Two dollars, or two-fifty a month. SG: How much did the NYA [National Youth Association] pay you? DB: Oh, I don't remember the amount they paid, but it was a tremendous help. I hated [?] work, but I did it. RG: Can you tell us about when you met your husband? DB: Oh, I was organist at the church in Macon, and his sister was a member there. And she wanted us to meet, and so we did. And he was all ready to get married, but I wanted to pay back the money I had borrowed to go to school. And so we waited a year or two. But we just, I was so glad we got together. I'm thankful that I had him because he did a lot of good work. RG: How long were you married? DB: About sixty years. Married in '41 and he died in '96, you figure it out. RG: Well, again, if there's nothing that you'd like to add, it's really been wonderful, I really appreciate you taking the time to come here and do this interview with us. DB: I wish I could have added more but anyway I was glad to be here, and I love the beautiful place. RG: Thank you again.
Metadata URL:: http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/363
Additional Rights Information:: This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
Extent:: 32:20
Original Collection:: Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
Holding Institution:: Atlanta History Center
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