Jean Lowe Butler was a celebrated athlete and educator, known as one of Canada’s most successful female athletes. She set national records in the 100- and 220-yard sprints and held Canada’s 100-metre sprint record for women. Butler won medals in every competition she entered. Read more about her life and career at torontonka.
A Sports Prodigy
Jean Lowe was born in 1922 in Toronto to immigrant parents from the Caribbean. She began her athletic career at the age of 13, joining the Toronto Ladies’ Athletic Club and later the Laurel Ladies’ Athletic Club. She also played basketball with the Toronto Ladies Club and Hope United Church and participated in softball with the Beaches Ladies’ Softball League.
While attending Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute (formerly known as the High School of Commerce), she excelled in all track and field championships, actively participating in school volleyball, basketball, softball, and badminton teams.
Jean later became the captain of the track and field team, an executive member of the girls’ sports society, and a member of the dance club. Recognized as an exceptional sprinter at Eastern Commerce, she joined the Laurel Ladies’ Athletic Club.
In 1941, at the Ontario Championships, Jean set a record in the 220-yard dash. The following year, she broke the women’s record for the 100-yard dash. In 1942, Butler won five consecutive events at the Ontario track and field championships, ultimately leading the Laurel team.
That same year, she won the Norman Craig Memorial Trophy, and in 1944, she captained the winning relay team at the AAU Championships in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Athletic Career
In 1942, Jean met Cleve Abbott, the director of the Tuskegee Institute, who invited her to move to Alabama and attend the university. In 1945, she left Toronto, seeing greater career opportunities outside Canada, and enrolled at Tuskegee.
There, she competed in track events, including the 100- and 200-metre sprints, long jump, and high jump, consistently earning medals in every tournament.
In 1948, Jean returned to Toronto and represented Canada in the Olympics. Although she was widely considered a top contender in sprinting events, she did not secure a victory.
Following the Olympics, some athletic organizations, including the Women’s Amateur Athletic Federation (WAAF), were accused of favouritism during the selection process. Jean Butler subsequently chose not to compete for Canada again.
Life After Education
In 1950, Jean graduated from Tuskegee Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree. By 1951, she had begun teaching physical education, mathematics, and English at the university.
For the next 29 years, she taught in Mobile, Alabama, spending over 19 years at Central High School, where she developed the school’s first physical education program for Black students. She later taught for 10 more years at John S. Shaw High School.
At Mobile, Butler trained a champion track and field team, coached basketball, and sponsored the Majorette and Cheerleading teams, as well as the Friends of Exceptional Children organization.
In 2017, Jean Butler passed away, donating her body to the University of South Alabama’s College of Medicine Anatomical Gifts Program for research and education.
In recognition of her significant contributions to athletics and education, Jean Butler was inducted into the Tuskegee University Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.