Elsie Hopestill "Hope" Butler Wilson (August 18, 1893 – January 26, 1984) was an American ambulance driver, canteen operator, and relief worker in France and Serbia during World War I and in occupied Germany in the postwar period. She organized a unit of women volunteer ambulance drivers with Marguerite Standish Cockett.
Early life Elsie Hopestill Butler was the daughter of Robert Gordon Butler and Mary Leland Thorp Butler of New York City.William Allen Butler and Willard Parker Butler, Book of the family and lineal descendants of Medad Butler, late of Stuyvesant, Columbia County, N.Y (New York Public Library 1919). She grew up in Orange and South Orange, NJ. Her sister Marjorie Butler Harrison was active as a clubwoman in Philadelphia."In a Social Way" Philadelphia Inquirer (February 21, 1912): 8. via Newspapers.com"Asks Child Foster-Homes" New York Times (April 25, 1929): 32. Her other sister was Eleanor Butler Marindin."Miss Butler Weds Henri L. Marindin" New York Times (February 15, 1925): 26. Their great-grandfather was Benjamin Franklin Butler, attorney general in the Andrew Jackson administration.,"Robert Gordon Butler" Records of the Class, 1883–1908 (Harvard University 1908): 16–17 and their uncle was N. Howard Thorp, who was instrumental in preserving cowboy songs and verse.
In World War I Hope Butler and Marguerite Standish Cockett, an American doctor, "organized the first American ambulance unit driven by women in the French army.""About Hope Butler" The Woman Citizen (November 2, 1918): 4. They wore uniforms as French soldiers, and were housed with them. Later they joined the Red Cross in Serbia, and built a canteenKristine Carlson Asselin, Women in World War I (ABDO 2016): 43–44. as part of the Women's Division of the YMCA."My Canteen and the Marines" The Marines' Bulletin (Christmas 1918): 55, 58. After two years in Europe, Butler returned to the United States to give lectures and raise funds for war work,"Soldiers Reverence Y. M. C. A. Women" Philadelphia Inquirer (November 5, 1918): 14. via Newspapers.com"Returned Y. M. Girl Talks of Work Abroad" New Castle Herald (October 22, 1918): 5. via Newspapers.com then was back in Europe for post-war efforts, including a turn on the YMCA's women's baseball team, touring to entertain American troops."Woman's Nine Plays Baseball at Coblenz" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 25, 1919): 12. via Newspapers.com
Butler, like some other women volunteers, wore her hair short while working in Europe, a fact that was considered newsworthy at the time."Women War Workers Sacrifice Hair Because Long Hair and War Work Don't Mix at All" Oxnard Daily Courier (November 20, 1918): 2. via Newspapers.com "One couldn't keep one's hair clean, getting under cars to mend them, sleeping in garages, on planks anywhere," she explained, "so I cut mine off." In 1918, Butler served as a courier for the British delegation at the Allied Congress of Women in Paris. She was honored with a decoration by the French Government after the war."Honors Won by Miss Butler" Baltimore Sun (September 25, 1919): 9. via Newspapers.com
Personal life In 1925, Hope Butler became the third wife of Francis Mairs Huntington Wilson, a writer and former diplomat, when they wed in Zurich."Huntington Wilson Married in Zurich" New York Times (September 29, 1925): 27. She was widowed when he died in 1946."F. M. H. Wilson Dies; Former Diplomat" New York Times (January 1, 1947): 34. She was still alive in December 1951 when her mother's will was probated."Media Woman Wills Estate of $30,000" Delaware County Daily Times (December 19, 1951): 3. via Newspapers.com
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