Jean Peabody Taylor

Class of 1935

Jean Peabody was born in St. Joseph, Illinois but spent her childhood in Urbana.   Jean's parents valued education; it was a primary concern even when family funds were cut short because of the Depression: 

“That was the goal of my parents, to get us all three through high school and college…They, my mother and father and my two sisters, lived on a farm, east of Urbana.  They moved into this little town called St. Joseph and the girls started high school.  And my dad decided that it was only three year high school, and that didn’t please him, so then they decided to move to Urbana, so they’d have a four year high school.” 

Moving to Urbana opened the door for Jean and her sisters to attend the University of Illinois. “I had no choice about college, I was within walking distance, which was pretty good distance from where we lived. We lived just a few blocks west of Lincoln Square. My first classes were always at the Commerce Building, which at time was about the farthest building on campus. Of course, there are many farther now, but that’s where most of my classes were, the Commerce Building.”

Work:

Jean and her sisters worked, primarily during the summers, to pay for their education. “We worked, we worked…In the summer time, after I was out of high school, I worked, oh at I don’t know how many different offices at the University of Illinois… I worked every summer, and I worked in the, what was the name of that Business School, I can’t think of the name of it now. I worked in the office there, I worked at Cap and Gown, I worked at I don’t know how many offices around the University.” Students had a variety of jobs. While Jean worked in clerical fields, her sisters held different jobs. “There used to be right in the main back of the campus, right in the middle of that main block, there was a tea room. My older sister, while she was in the University, she went there everyday at noon and was a cashier. And my other sister graded papers for the professors.”

Activities:

“You had to watch your pennies.  You want to think about something, you’d think, “can I, can I really do that.”  And the guys didn’t have the money to take you out a lot.  Gosh now they always get their dates go out and eat and go to a show, and we couldn’t do that.  And, guys I dated at the University, they never had money.  They were on short strings all the time.” 

Jean was member of Phi Mu, but lived at home to save money.  Many of the sororities stressed table manners and how to entertain properly for their girls.   Private homes were no different in that young ladies were expected to have some accomplishments, despite the Depression.  Jean's mother wanted her daughters to learn to play the piano. 

"I remember one thing about it, after we moved to Urbana, or a while after that, my dad decided to sell their farm.  He still owned the farm.  And, at the same time, my mother wanted to buy a piano.  My dad thought that was not necessary, and he didn’t, he didn’t know whether any of us had any ability or not.  He just thought it was foolish, but she didn’t give up.  I don’t know why she was so sure that she wanted to have piano.  And, anyway, when the people came to sign the papers, to sell the farm, after they moved to Urbana, my mother had to sign the papers too, and she wouldn’t sign them, until my dad promised to get a piano [laughter].” 

Although they enjoyed a wide variety of extracurricular activities, the Peabody sisters were committed to their studies.  Jean remembers about her sister, Ruth, going to the Senior Ball:  “She had gone to the Senior Ball with her date, and she had taken the Accountancy Exam, CPA Exam, a few days before that.  And one of her professors came up to her while they were dancing, he said to her, “Are you having a good time?”  She said, “Oh yes,” she was having a fine time. He said, “Would you like to have a better time?”  Well, she said, “I guess so.”  And he said, “I just got word that you passed the CPA Exam with the highest grade.”  I remember that night, because it used to be the custom back then, that after the Senior Ball, they would go somewhere out of town for breakfast, they’d spend the night and have breakfast.  And so they came by my home, she and her date, and woke up my parents to tell them that she passed the CPA Exam, before they went on to their party.” 

After University of Illinois

Jean Peabody Taylor graduated from the University of Illinois in 1935.  After teaching in Hume and Villa Grove, Illinois, she married Robert Taylor in 1941 and raised two sons.  She is an accomplished pianist. 

The tapes and complete transcript of this interview, conducted Janurary 23, 2001,
are available for research use in the Student Life and Culture Archives.

 

 

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