Mining City Reflections
Mining City Reflections consists of three parts. Part 1 contains excerpts of oral histories of women in the first part of the 20th century who grew up in Butte or who spent significant parts of their lives in the city. A sampling of the wealth of Butte’s immigrant culture is represented - Serbian, Irish, Croatian, Mexican, Cornish, as well as Jewish and African communities.
The second part focuses on the oral histories of members of the Women’s Protective Union, a unique all female organization formed by women in the city in 1891 to protect women workers across trades. Also included are oral histories of two Archives staff who interviewed the women, which offer perspectives on the organization and the Archives’ collection of Butte labor history artifacts.
The final segment contains excerpts from oral histories of Butte women currently living in Butte. Generally more educated and well-traveled, these women were more likely to leave Butte, only to return in their later years. They offer a perspective on Butte that comes from comparing the Mining City to the world beyond.
Introduction - Ellen Crain and Mary Murphy
Welcome to Mining City Reflections, a series of podcasts that explore the contributions of women in Butte, Montana using excerpts of their oral histories. Without the careful stewardship of Ellen Crain, the Butte Archives’ director over the past thirty years, and historians such as Mary Murphy, these irreplaceable recordings might no longer exist. In this introductory podcast, we talk about the Archives oral history collection’s origins, development and impact.
Episode 1 - Perdita Duncan
Perdita was born in Butte in 1927, the second of four children in the Duncan family. They were among the Mining City’s small black population that hovered around two thousand, a scant two per cent of the total. While Jim Crow laws did not exist in Montana, African-Americans were not fully accepted in Butte.
Episode 2 - Mary Tribovich
Serbians began arriving in large numbers in America in the late 19th century, with more than 2,000 Serbs living in Butte by 1910. Part of this wave, Mary Trbovich’s parents, Stana and Louie Markovich, had immigrated from Budva, Yugoslavia near Dubovnick on the Adriatic coast.
Episode 3 - Aili Goldberg
During the first half of the last century, more than 20 ethnic groups sought a new life in Butte. By 1917, the Finnish population had jumped to 3,000 as Butte offered the highest industrial wage in the country. Aili Goldberg reminisces about her Finnish immigrant mother, Mary Maki, and their life in Butte.
Episode 4 - Kathleen O’Sullivan
A defining influence on Butte’s heavily Catholic population came from those women who served in Holy Orders in the many parish schools. Kathleen O’Sullivan, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, made a lasting mark on the community.
Episode 5 - Lula Martinez
Adding to a host of other immigrant groups, Hispanics came to Butte as early as the 1880s with majority arriving in the 1920’s and 30’s. Experienced in mining in Mexico, they made excellent copper miners. Lula Martinez and her eleven siblings grew up on East Galena Street where the sounds of the mines were among her earliest memories.
Episode 6 - Gwen Mitchell
No immigrant population made a greater contribution to Butte’s mining industry than the Cornish. They were the first ethnic group that came to the Mining district in large numbers. In this episode we’ll hear from Gwen Mitchell, both sides of whose family were Cornish who had immigrated to work in the mines.
Episode 7 - Norma Gronfein
This episode features the oral history of Norma Pilling Gronfein who came to Butte in 1947. In 1885, nearly a quarter of Butte’s stores were selling food, clothing, jewelry, hats, cigars, and hardware, to the bustling mining community. Most were Jewish-owned. The Gronfein family owned the Stratford Men’s Shop in the heart of Butte on North Main Street.
Episode 8 - Anna Marinovich
Despite hardships including harsh working and living conditions, the Marinovich story is one of delight and gratitude. A jovial woman with a knack for storytelling, Anna’s recollections reflect the gusto with which she lived her life. Anna’s parents, George Stefanac and Agnes Rauch, met in the Smelter City of Anaconda, Montana.
Episode 9 - Labor Pains
In 1995, the Butte-Silver Bow Archives began the Women’s Labor History Project to collect and catalog materials about the historic Women’s Protective Union, including oral histories of retired members. Whitney Williams, Director of the project, collected numerous oral histories that we draw from in this episode.
Episode 10 - Marilyn Maney
In this episode we continue the story of the Women's Protective Union, a 20th century labor organization in Butte that captures the essence of the Mining City spirit. We'll hear from Marilyn Manny, one time chair of the Board of Directors of the Archives. She was instrumental in the formation of its Labor History Collection and was uniquely qualified for the jobm as she actually consulted with the last officers of the union.
Episode 11 - Millie Laitinen
We continue to explore the history of the Women's Protective Union, a powerful influence in the lives of working women in Butte for eight decades. We'll hear from one of the Union's long time members Mildred Laitinen. Millie worked in restaurants and banquet halls in the Mining City as a member of the Women's Protective Union, and its successor, the Hotel and Restaurant Union, for 50 years.
Episode 12 - Rose Marie Johnson
We hear from Rose Marie Johnson, who worked in food service in Butte and belonged to the Women's Protective Union for forty years. She eventually served on its Executive Board. This episode focuses on Rose Marie's life as a working wife and mother particularly in the 1950s and 60's, and her dedication to the Women's Protective Union.
Episode 13 - Val Webster
This episode highlights the working life of Val Webster, who quite literally grew up in the Women's Protective Union. At age four, she accompanied her mother and other WPLI members to the funeral of Frank Little, an organizer for the International Workers of the World. At the time of the oral history interview, Valentine Kenney Webster had been involved with the Women's Protective Union for more than fifty years.
Episode 14 - Blanche Copenhaver
This episode highlights the working life of Blanche Copenhaver who was involved in the Women's Protective Union in one role or another for forty years. The interview focuses on Blanche's life as a working waitress who moved up the ranks of the Women's Protective Union to become one of its key officers in the 1950's.
Episode 15 - Bridget Shea
In this episode we visit the home of Bridget Shea to see what we might learn about her life during the years in which she was the business agent for the Women’s Protective Union. Fittingly, the house’s current owner is yet another woman who also reveres the memory of Bridget Shea. Cindy Shaw, a member of the Butte Silver Bow Council of Commissioners and a prominent community leader, has lived in the former Shea home since 1996 and provides this audio tour and history.
Episode 16 - Marjorie Cannon
In this episode we hear excerpts from the oral history of Marjorie Cannon, taken in her own home by Butte Archives Assistant Director, Aubrey Jaap in July, 2018. A lifelong resident of Butte, articulate and with an eye for detail, Marjorie is a keen observer of the changes she’s seen in the Mining City.
Episode 17 - Mollie Kirk
In this edition we’ll hear from Mollie Kirk, a lifelong resident and a product of Butte’s close-knit Irish community who embodies its powerful history of survival and overcoming adversity. With a healthy mix of Celtic irreverence and a love of life, Mollie is straight forward, unrepentant, and a consummate storyteller
Episode 18 - Irene Sheidecker
In this edition we’ll hear from Irene Scheidecker, a resident of Butte since the age of 2, Irene’s family story is unique, if not enviable. After all, who wouldn’t want to grow up with 15 brothers and sisters who worked together in their very own ice cream store?
Episode 19 - The Porter Sisters
The Porter sisters’ oral history is filled with stories about how their widowed mother helped to shape their lives. Well-educated and well-traveled, the Porters tell their story with good humor and aplomb, recounting adventures that took them far and wide but eventually brought them full circle back to Butte.
Episode 20 - Virginia Salazar
Virginia is the daughter of a miner who married a miner and lived through the turbulent last decades of the Anaconda Mining Company. She provides an intimate portrait of the roller coaster life in a mining community. Recounting her story with the good humor and patient attention to detail one might come to expect from the mother of fifteen children, Gin faced down challenges that might have defeated lesser women.
Episode 21 - Kitty Brilliant
A product of Butte’s close-knit Catholic community, Kitty Brilliant embraced the adversity that was common to mining families. Her story reflects a generation of Butte residents who left the city when their options dwindled along with the mining industry and the economy in general.
Episode 22 - Sister Mary Jo McDonald
Born in Butte and raised in the company smelter town of nearby Anaconda, Sister Mary Jo developed an early understanding of the plight of those living in a mining culture. As an adult she has become a champion of the poor, and an activist in environmental reclamation and health issues related to the mining industry. In her ministry of Superfund, her calling has has followed the edict to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
Episode 23 - Sara Sparks
In this episode we’ll hear the story of a woman who witnessed the reclamation effort from a unique perspective, a Butte miner’s daughter who grew up to work for the Environmental Protection Agency. Privy to many behind-the-scene details, Sara Sparks tells her story with thoughtful reflection.
Episode 24 - Elizabeth Christy
Elisabeth Christy, who along with her husband Matt, owned and ran one of Butte’s many neighborhood grocery stores. Her story is one of unique tragedy in a town where loss was the norm.