Schoenthaler, Jim oral history interview, 1999

Item

Identifier: MOH 121

Staff Only

Schoenthaler, Jim oral history interview

Scope and Contents

Interview includes discussions of: family political and social views; boarding school; Boston College and religion; Bowdoin College; growing up in Waterville, Maine; John H. Reed; Office of Economic Opportunity; Labor Department; Opportunity Industrialization Centers of America; minimum wage laws; marriage to Betsy Carpenter; Ken Curtis; James Longley; confirmation process; tripartite commission on labor; Jimmy George; 2000 election; Republican control of Maine politics; Muskie as politician; recent jobs; Jane and Ed Muskie as friends; Ed Muskie’s temper; first meeting of Jane Gray and Ed Muskie; Muskie’s early political positions; Don Larrabee; Muskie’s final years; arguments with Muskie; property tax; and Muskie’s effect on the balance of political power in Maine.

Dates

1999

Access Restrictions

Some interviews may be restricted pending approval of the interviewee. See the Archives staff for additional information.

Most interviews are available online (audio and transcripts) and can be accessed by clicking the highlighted link at each interviewee webpage.

Biographical / Historical

James “Jim” Courtney Schoenthaler was born in Skowhegan, Maine, on August 11, 1927. His father, Frank C. Schoenthaler, died when James was very young. His mother, Delia Schoenthaler, ran a clothing store where Jane (Gray) Muskie was working when she met Ed Muskie. Jim and his brother William attended prep school in Massachusetts. After prep school, he spent a semester at Boston College before transferring to Bowdoin, graduating with a double degree in French and Economics. He started working in the Maine Office of Economic Opportunity under Governor John H. Reed., then he worked in a variety of state offices mainly concerned with labor and employment.