- Collection:
- Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives
- Title:
- Butler talks about the Labor Movement's support for the ERA (5:34)
- Creator:
- Butler, Sarah, 1939-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Millen, Susan A. (Susan Ann), 1951-
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 2004-10-23
- Subject:
- Feminism
Social movements
Women's studies - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- audiocassettes
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Sarah Butler was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The fourth of six children, her mother was a homemaker and her father was a barber. She graduated from the Girls High School of Atlanta in 1939, and later attended Georgia Evening College, leaving in 1949 to marry Bob Butler. Butler had two children, and quit her work at Sears Roebuck to take care of them. Once the children were grown, Butler began her 18-year association with the labor movement, and in particular, the AFL-CIO. A member of the Office and Professional Employees Union, Butler was also involved with ERA Georgia, Inc., NOW, AARP, Southwest Atlantans for Progress, her PTA, and the Democratic Party. While her husband was president of the Atlanta Labor Council, she served as the secretary of the council. Soon after she retired, Butler was inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame. She was also honored as Woman of the Year in the Labor Movement. She now lives in Gainesville, Georgia.
Butler talks about her childhood in Atlanta, and her parents activism -- her father in the Barber's Association and her mother in school and community affairs. She says that she worked at Sears Roebuck between 1939 and 1949, leaving to have her first child. She describes discriminatory practices at Sears, and says that once she became pregnant and began wearing maternity dresses, she was removed from a public position to the personnel office where nobody could see me." Butler stayed at home with her two children until her son was in 11th grade. At this time, she states, she was invited to work for the Georgia AFL-CIO as a secretary. She remained with the organization for 18 years. She describes her experiences in the labor movement, and her efforts to convey information about the Equal Rights Amendment to the labor community, and in particular to her own union, the OPEIU (Office and Professional Employees International Union). She also talks about her work (with the AFL-CIO) on Jimmy Carter's failed reelection campaign, and subsequent efforts organizing his papers. Butler and her husband were long-term advocates for civil rights, and members of SWAP (Southwest Atlantans for Progress). She discusses some of the work they undertook to bring about integration and equality within their neighborhoods and the labor movement. She also talks about her volunteer, AARP and feminist activities in Gainesville GA, and in particular, her response to local pro-life activities. Butler ends by telling women, "We're going to have to stay alert, we're going to have to stay on top of things, and we're going to have to keep the right people in Washington and locally too."
Transcript of this excerpt: SB: One of the ladies approached Mr. Mabry about labor being involved in the ERA movement -- SM: One of the ladies from -- a labor union woman, or OPEIU -- ? SB: No, This lady was from the Georgia ERA. From up in the Marietta area. They had a wonderful chapter going up there. Real strong and we had never been -- nobody had ever spoken to the ladies in the labor movement I think, about joining the ERA, or anything. But anyway, when he came back and told me what had happened, and I told him that I had been to several meetings with the Georgia ERA group and that I would speak to my local union which is OPEIU -- Office and Professional Employees Union. So at the next meeting I spoke to the president, and she was very much enthused about going to work for women’s rights because -- having been in the labor movement much longer than I had, she felt it was the thing to do. SM: Was this Ruth Stanley? SB: Yes. Ruth Stanley was President of OPEIU #21, local in Atlanta. So, when Mr. Mabry told me this, I spoke to my group and they said, Yes, they would be interested. So went back and told Mr. Mabry what the ladies wanted to do and he was not real enthusiastic about it. But, I did tell him that if the state was not going to do anything, that my local union would. And when you have folks to depend on -- when you have to depend on votes for your job, I think perhaps that moved him a little bit. So he was -- became, “OK,” he says, “Go ahead and do what you can.” So we started, and the first big thing we did was more fun and made every -- all the women feel so good. We planned to have a -- I guess a meeting, I guess -- But yet we were going to have refreshments and we were going to have dancing and we were going to have just anything to show people how strong the women could be. Well the Georgia ERA group from Marietta came and joined us, and we put on a great big show and the best part of all -- all these big, tough, building people that -- you know, in the building trades union, they said, “Ok, we’ll help you.” We put the cutest little aprons on them and made them cocktail waitresses. They served cocktails for us. We told them, you can dance any time you want to, just get somebody to wear your apron. We had the greatest turn out. You would not believe, we made -- I think we ended up making 1,500 dollars and turned that over to the Georgia ERA. One really nice young woman -- my husband happened to be involved in it too -- and she said, “I’ll give ten dollars if Sarah and Bob Butler will jitterbug.” And you know we did. (Laughs) And it was just that. If the guy wanted to dance with a young woman he had to pay her -- pay a dollar to dance with her. We had more fun, and you would not have believed how great those building trades guys were. They just came through like you wouldn’t believe. It was just absolutely wonderful. And from then on we had our next convention. I asked permission to -- I went to all the conventions of course, because I had to keep up with things that were going on, as the secretary in the office. I did become the secretary. I asked permission to ask Judge Ed Johnson, who was very strong for the Equal Rights Amendment, to come and speak to the convention and I was given the opportunity. I was allowed to do that. He came -- he flew into Savannah. I picked him up. We were meeting in -- where were we meeting then? I’m having to think where we were meeting then. But I did go -- I guess we were meeting in Savannah and I had to run over to Jacksonville and pick him up at the airport and bring him over. So, I also asked for permission to introduce him, and by doing this I was able to give a speech about how I felt about ERA and the Women’s Movement. And when I did, the women went berserk. (laughs) They jumped up and they marched around all over that auditorium, and it was just absolutely wonderful. But the best thing I said to them was, “I do not want to walk in front of my husband. I do not want to walk behind my husband. I want to walk beside my husband. And that’s where every woman should have the right to be.” As far as being treated like he was, I needed that too. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/coles/id/2094
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/coles:2094/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Extent:
- 37 pages (two audio cassettes)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Women's Movement Project Collection
Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
