Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript July 21, 2017
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Jane Andrews Hinds Daughter of the Honorable George and Elizabeth Andrews of Alabama Oral History Interview Final Edited Transcript July 21, 2017 Office of the Historian U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. “She was so close to my father. She knew every thought that he had had...she was with him, you know, every step of the way. She knew his thoughts, she knew his goals, because she was part of it. I don’t think there was as much transition as you might think. It was not, “Oh my god, what will I do?” I mean, she had grown up. She knew the legislative process. I think she really enjoyed that year.” Jane Andrews Hinds July 21, 2017 Table of Contents Interview Abstract i Interviewee Biography i Editing Practices ii Citation Information ii Interviewer Biography iii Interview 1 Notes 42 Abstract In this interview, Jane Andrews Hinds reflects on her parents’ political experience from the 1940s to the 1970s. As the daughter of Representative George Andrews of Alabama, Hinds describes growing up in a political family, splitting time between Washington and Alabama. She also focuses on the life and political career of her mother, Elizabeth Andrews, who spent decades in Washington as the wife of a Member of Congress who later won a special election to fill her husband’s seat after his death in 1971 during the 92nd Congress (1971–1973). Using historic newspapers and insights from her mother’s diary, Hinds discusses her mother’s motivations to run for Congress, including advice from her friend, Texas Congresswoman Lera Thomas, who had also filled her late husband’s House seat. Andrews became the first woman elected to Congress from Alabama, and found the House a welcoming place as she worked for the remainder of the 92nd Congress on her husband’s appropriation projects. Throughout the interview, Hinds recalls trips she took with her family across the country and around the world, meeting political figures who knew her father, and the life-long friendships she made with her parents’ congressional staff. Her memories of her mother’s transition from serving in the Congressional Club, an organization for the wives of Representatives, to being a Member of Congress sheds light on the experience of congressional widows—a unique aspect of the story of women in Congress. Biography Jane Andrews Hinds was born in Union Springs, Alabama, in 1939. Her father, George Andrews, served 15 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives until his death in 1971. Her mother, Elizabeth Andrews, succeeded her father by winning a special election, becoming the first woman elected to Congress from Alabama. After her father’s election to the House in 1942, Hinds and her family moved to DC where she attended the National Cathedral School, returning to Alabama every summer. As a student in DC, she played on the tennis team and participated in theater productions. After graduating from high school in 1956, Hinds attended Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia, and University of Virginia before graduating in 1961 with degrees in English and history from Salem College, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1959, Jane Andrews married Thomas Hinds and moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. The couple had two children, Elizabeth and Thomas. Hinds worked in advertising, museums, and several other jobs while raising her children. Now retired, Hinds continues to live in Greensboro. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ i Editing Practices In preparing interview transcripts for publication, the editors sought to balance several priorities: • As a primary rule, the editors aimed for fidelity to the spoken word and the conversational style in accord with generally accepted oral history practices. • The editors made minor editorial changes to the transcripts in instances where they believed such changes would make interviews more accessible to readers. For instance, excessive false starts and filler words were removed when they did not materially affect the meaning of the ideas expressed by the interviewee. • In accord with standard oral history practices, interviewees were allowed to review their transcripts, although they were encouraged to avoid making substantial editorial revisions and deletions that would change the conversational style of the transcripts or the ideas expressed therein. • The editors welcomed additional notes, comments, or written observations that the interviewees wished to insert into the record and noted any substantial changes or redactions to the transcript. • Copy-editing of the transcripts was based on the standards set forth in The Chicago Manual of Style. The first reference to a Member of Congress (House or Senate) is underlined in the oral history transcript. For more information about individuals who served in the House or Senate, please refer to the online Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov and the “People Search” section of the History, Art & Archives website, http://history.house.gov. For more information about the U.S. House of Representatives oral history program contact the Office of House Historian at (202) 226-1300, or via email at [email protected]. Citation Information When citing this oral history interview, please use the format below: “Jane Andrews Hinds Oral History Interview,” Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, July 21, 2017. Interviewer Biography http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ ii V. Grace Ethier is a researcher, writer, and oral historian for the Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives. She earned her B.A. in history from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has been with the office since 2014 and leads the web production for the oral history team. http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ iii — JANE ANDREWS HINDS — A CENTURY OF WOMEN IN CONGRESS ETHIER: This is Grace Ethier with the Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives. Today, I am speaking [over the phone] with Jane Andrews Hinds, daughter of two former Members from Alabama, George [William] Andrews and Elizabeth [Bullock] Andrews. The date is July 21, 2017, and I am in the House Recording Studio in the Rayburn House Office Building, and Jane is in her home in Greensboro, North Carolina. This interview is part of an ongoing project to recognize the 100th anniversary of the election and swearing-in of Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman elected to Congress. Jane, thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me today and being part of this project. HINDS: Thank you for inviting me. ETHIER: I want to start today with your mother’s background. Where did your mother grow up? HINDS: Mother grew up in Geneva, Alabama. Her father was in business. Unfortunately, he died when she was only one year old. She attended public schools in Geneva, and then she entered the University of Montevallo to pursue a career in education. She wanted to teach. One of her advisors said to Mother, “You should think of home economics because they pay more than regular teachers’ salaries.” So Mother graduated with a home economics degree and went to Union Springs to teach. When she discovered that she was making $30 or $40 more per month than other teachers, she realized http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ 1 that her advisor had been very savvy. She was glad she had majored in home economics, and she adored every aspect of her curriculum. Mother met my father when she moved to Union Springs. She noticed the handsome deacon at the First Baptist Church. Somehow, they started talking, and Dad asked her for a date. I think it was love from the very first. But after months of dating, Mother did not think things were progressing, so she accepted a teaching position in another part of the state. Dad said, “No, you don’t—we are getting married.” Since Mother’s father had died when she was a baby, Dad went to her supervisor and said, “I would like to marry Elizabeth Bullock.” They were married in 1936. Mother continued to teach until she fulfilled her contract with the public schools, and Dad continued to practice law until he chose to run for Congress. ETHIER: You checked off all of the questions that I have next. HINDS: Oh! {laughter} Sorry. ETHIER: No, no! How did she describe her hometown to you? HINDS: Well, I know Geneva. I used to go there when I was little. It was just a very small town. It had a marvelous library, which I used to go to. Miss Rebecca was the librarian, and she always let me help her or browse for as long as I wanted to. [There was] a post office, a movie theater, a drugstore, probably three streetlights, beautiful homes. Just a very small, wonderful town. ETHIER: How did the Depression affect her and her family? HINDS: Well, I think Dad, as an attorney, was making enough money, and then Mother made the most that a woman could make in education at the time. I http://history.house.gov/Oral-History/ 2 think they were very comfortable. They built our home in 1939, and I arrived one month later. I think it was very hard for my grandmother in Geneva. My mother’s sister taught at Livingston College, but she went back to Geneva to look after her mother.1 They saved—and Mother—to the last breath, would always save things. I think that’s ingrained when the supply is not adequate. I think you are afraid to let something go by because you might not have it when you needed it in the future. ETHIER: Transitioning into your background now, when were you born? HINDS: I was born January 19, 1939.