Oral history with Mrs. Jane M. Schutt

              An Oral History with Mrs. Jane M. Schutt
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of USM Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage It is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright and PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Mrs. Jane Menefee Schutt was born January 2, 1913, in Washington, D. C., to Randolph and Gertrude Menefee. She was educated in the public school system in Washington, graduating in 1929, and continued her education at George Washington University, which she attended from 1929 to 1932. She married Wallis Schutt ( an engineering graduate of George Washington University) in 1934 and has five children: Wallis J. Schutt, Patricia Schutt Herzog, Ella Schutt Hamilton, Nancy Schutt McCorkle, and John Cogswell Schutt. They moved to Mississippi in 1942 when her husband joined M. T. Reed Construction Company. Mrs. Schutt is a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and was active in Church Women United, for which she served as state president from 1960 to 1963. She was appointed to the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and served four years, the last year as chairman. She worked with the Mississippi Council on Human Relations, serving on the board of directors, and with the Head Start Program. She was a member of the Mississippi Association for Retarded Children and established and developed a recreation program for these children. Over the years Mrs. Schutt received many awards including the following: The Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Award presented by The Mississippi Council on Human Relations ( 1973), an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities conferred by the Prentiss Institute ( 1975), the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference Award ( 1978), and Church Women United's Valiant Woman Award ( 1979).
Topics Discussed
Family background and early marriage The Episcopal Church and racial activism A position on the Mississippi Advisory Board and Murray Cox Church Women United and breaking color barriers Surveillance and angry reactions Episcopal Bishop Duncan Gray Ruth Beittel and the Southern Regional Council Managing family life and activism Spiritual background and family history mus- coh. schuttj. doc Page 1 of 29