Eunice Layton

Publicity leaflet for a lecture tour, 1958. Image from TSA Archives.

Eunice Layton was an American Theosophical worker who was married to Felix Layton.

Early life

Mrs. Layton, a native of Salt lake City, has had careers in a number of different fields. While still in high school, she established a school of ballet and dancing. At the University of Utah she specialized in physical therapy and dramatics and later taught for five years in high school and junior college. Moving to San Francisco, she opened a physical therapy establishment. Following World War II, she returned to the teaching profession, at the same time completing work on her M.A. degree in education at Stanford University.

Her master’s thesis was on disadvantaged children, using her classroom as a basis for required research.

Eunice Shipp in 1949

Theosophical work

Mrs. Layton became a member of the Theosophical Society in 1945. A publicity flyer about her from about 1960 says:

Eunice Layton has recently returned to the United States after a period of study and service at the International Headquarters of The Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras, India. During the past few years, she and her husband, Mr. Felix Layton, have lectured in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaya and Ceylon, as well as in India and Pakistan. They also completed a six-month lecture tour in Europe, before returning to the International Headquarters of the Society where Mrs. Layton has been in charge of the Department of Information.

Mrs. Layton served for nearly two years on the staff of the National Headquarters as head of the Department of Information. From 1954 to 1959, she and her husband travelled throughout the United States, lecturing and conducting classes on Theosophy. In 1959, Mr. and Mrs. Layton began a world tour that took them to the International headquarters of the Society where they attended the School of the Wisdom, later serving as Assistant Directors of Study at that School.

In 1977, she and Felix moved to Krotona Institute of Theosophy, and used it as their base in Theosophical work. From 1986-1991, Felix was vice-president and resident head of the Institute, and Eunice supported him in this work.

Book cover

Writings

• Some Basic Concepts of Theosophy. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1960. Coauthor Felix Layton, with foreword by Geoffrey Hodson. Based on a series of lectures. Available at hpb.narod.ru. Translated into Dutch.
• Theosophy: Key to Understanding. Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Publishing House, 1967. 170 pages. Coauthor Eunice Layton. Reissued in 1988 as Life, Your Great Adventure: a Theosophical View. Translated into Finnish and Italian. Available for borrowing online at Internet Archive.

Additional resources

Audio

• Spirituality in Daily Living. Audiocassette AR 0658 in Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library.
• The Reign of Law. Audiocassette AR 0538in Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library.