Interview with Betty Jane Ladd
IntervieweeInterview with
Betty Jane Ladd
American, 1929 - 2012
InterviewerInterviewed by
Bruce M. Stave
American, 1937 - 2017
InterviewerInterviewed by
Sondra Astor Stave
Date2007 June 18
Mediumdigitized audio cassette tape
DimensionsDuration: 52 Minutes, 56 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
DescriptionAudio cassette tape of an interview with Betty Jane Ladd. She was interviewed on June 18, 2007 by Bruce M. Stave and Sondra Astor Stave at her home in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
Betty was born in Brownville Junction, Maine. She graduated from high school in 1946, then attended the University of Maine. After graduating from college, she taught high school. In 1952, she was hired at G. Fox & Co. as the Assistant Training Director, and she stayed at G. Fox for almost six years, leaving in 1958. She was in charge of the college training squad, which was a ten-month program for college students. She describes her work at G. Fox, the Family Circle, and her interactions with Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She describes Beatrice Fox Auerbach's purchase of Brown, Thomson & Company. She recalls BFA hiring immigrants who survived the Holocaust during World War II and describes what positions they held at G. Fox. She mentions the Moses Fox Club. She discusses the theft of a canoe from G. Fox. She recalls her Hartford apartment and her Italian landlord. After leaving G. Fox, Betty returned to teaching. She ends the interview describing the food in the G. Fox cafeteria.
Betty was born in Brownville Junction, Maine. She graduated from high school in 1946, then attended the University of Maine. After graduating from college, she taught high school. In 1952, she was hired at G. Fox & Co. as the Assistant Training Director, and she stayed at G. Fox for almost six years, leaving in 1958. She was in charge of the college training squad, which was a ten-month program for college students. She describes her work at G. Fox, the Family Circle, and her interactions with Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She describes Beatrice Fox Auerbach's purchase of Brown, Thomson & Company. She recalls BFA hiring immigrants who survived the Holocaust during World War II and describes what positions they held at G. Fox. She mentions the Moses Fox Club. She discusses the theft of a canoe from G. Fox. She recalls her Hartford apartment and her Italian landlord. After leaving G. Fox, Betty returned to teaching. She ends the interview describing the food in the G. Fox cafeteria.
Object number2009.85.27
NotesSubject Note: From 2006 to 2008, the Connecticut Historical Society carried out an oral history project to collect first-hand impressions of G. Fox & Co. and its long-time president, Beatrice Fox Auerbach. Over thirty former employees, as well as two of Mrs. Auerbach's grandchildren, Dorothy Brooks Koopman and Rena Koopman, contributed their memories in interviews conducted by the Stave Group, Oral History Consultants. Funding Note: In 2006, the Connecticut Historical Society received a grant from the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support the collection of oral histories, the cataloging of G. Fox & Co. materials and Fox and Auerbach family materials, and the creation of web pages. Additional funding for the oral histories was provided by The Prospect Fund, The Brookside Fund, and The Maple Tree Fund. The Connecticut Historical Society gratefully acknowledges these generous supporters. Without such generosity, this project would not have been possible.
Subject Terms
- Glastonbury
- Hartford (Conn.)
- Department stores
- Employees
- G. Fox & Co.
- Oral history
- Interview transcripts
- Interviews
- Oral narratives
- Retail trade
- Teachers
- Human resources and training
- College students
- Fox, Beatrice, 1887-1968
- Education
- Brown, Thomson & Co. (Hartford, Conn.)
- Shopping malls
- Family
- World War, 1939-1945
- Jewish people
- Women
- African Americans
- Black people
- People of color
- Christmas
- Drugstores
- Hartford Hospital
- Moses Fox Club
- Theft
- Italians
- Friendship
- Food
- Interviews and Oral Histories
- G. Fox & Co. Collection
- Remembering G. Fox & Co.
Collections
- G. Fox & Co.
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