Joseph G. Butler, Jr.

Infobox Person
name = Joseph G. Butler, Jr.


image_size = 190px
birth_date = birth date|1840|12|21|mf=y
birth_place = Mercer County, Pennsylvania
death_date = death date and age|1927|12|20|1840|12|21|mf=y
death_place = Youngstown, Ohio
known_for = Butler Institute of American Art
occupation = Industrialist
title = Director, American Iron and Steel Institute

Joseph Green Butler, Jr. (December 21, 1840 – December 20, 1927) was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and popular historian. He is remembered primarily for establishing the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to American art.cite news
title = Summer Refresher
work = Time
date = July 28, 1958
accessdate = 2007-03-09]

Early years

He was born in the industrial town of Temperance Furnace, Mercer County, Pennsylvania,cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14] the son of Joseph Green and Temperance (Orwig) Butler.cite book
last = Stewart
first = John Struthers
title = History of Northeastern Ohio (In Three Volumes)
year = 1935
publisher = Historical Publishing Company
location = Indianapolis, IN
pages = pp. 559–561] His family's presence in the country traced back to the period preceding the American Revolution. Joseph G. Butler, Jr.'s Anglo-Irish ancestors emigrated from the vicinity of Dublin to colonial America in 1759.cite book
last = Pallante
first = Sally
coauthors = Scotty Hanahan, Jim Dunn, Ted Miller, Martin Pallante, Terry Dunn
title = Irish in Youngstown and the Greater Mahoning Valley
year = 2004
publisher = Arcadia Publishing
location = Charleston, SC
pages = p. 17] According to Joseph G. Butler, Jr.'s obituary, his father, Joseph Green Butler, was a "widely known iron manufacturer and blast furnace expert". His grandfather, Joseph Butler, established the first blast furnace in central Pennsylvania. When Butler was still a child, his family relocated to Niles, Ohio, where he attended a village school along with future president William McKinley.cite news
title = Milestones
work = Time
date = January 2, 1928
accessdate = 2007-03-09]

Industrial career

Butler became involved in the iron business at the age of 30.cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14] In time, his industrial activities centered on Youngstown, Ohio, where he became a pivotal figure in the community's transition from iron to steel production. [Blue, Frederick J. et al., "Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County" (Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1995), p. 94.] In 1892, he joined local industrialist Henry Wick in the organization of the Ohio Steel Company, which built two Bessemer plants along the Mahoning River, just northwest of Youngstown.cite web | url = http://www.mahoninghistory.org/wdyk22-steel.htm | title = Mahoning Steel History | publisher = Mahoning Valley Historical Society | accessdate = 2007-03-31] The company went into production in 1895, only to be sold four years later to the Pittsburgh-based National Steel Company. In 1901, the local plant became the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, part of the U.S. Steel Corporation.

Butler's influence extended well beyond Ohio, however. By the early 20th century, he was a nationally known industrialist who served as director of the American Iron and Steel Institute, president of the Portage Silica Company, and a director of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Dock Company, Youngstown and Suburban Railway Company, Pennsylvania and Ohio Power & Light Company, and Commercial National Bank of Youngstown.cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14] Among American industrialists, he was known affectionately as "Uncle Joe".cite news
title = Milestones
work = Time
date = January 2, 1928
accessdate = 2007-03-09]

Civic contributions

Butler's most celebrated legacy is the Butler Institute of American Art, located near the modern-day campus of Youngstown State University. He established the institution in 1919, to house his personal collection of American art. The industrialist's commitment to this groundbreaking museum was reflected in his last will and testament. According to contemporary news accounts, Butler left the bulk of his $1,500,000 estate to the Butler Institute.cite news
title = Art Institute Gets Bulk of $1,5000,000 J. G. Butler Estate
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 29, 1927
accessdate = ]

Scarcely more than three decades after Butler's death, "Time" magazine published a feature story which described the art museum as "booming". In a passage that praised the late industrialist's vision as well as its realization, the magazine's editors wrote: "To set the strictly American tone of the place, he planted a befeathered bronze Indian in front of the $500,000 collonaded building designed by the Manhattan firm of McKim, Mead & White. With Youngstown University near by, the two blocks surrounding the museum soon developed into the cultural strip of the U.S.'s third biggest steel center".cite news
title = Summer Refresher
work = Time
date = July 28, 1958
accessdate = 2007-03-09]

As a philanthropist and community leader, Butler was also instrumental in the conception and realization of other civic projects, including Niles' McKinley Memorial, a monument to the memory of his personal friend, President William J. McKinley.cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14] In addition, Butler was the author of several well-received historical works, including an overview of the development of the U.S. steel industry, a history of the Mahoning Valley, and a biography of President McKinley.cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14] His published works also include a volume titled, "Presidents I Have Seen and Known". Butler was personally acquainted with every U.S. president from Abraham Lincoln to Calvin Coolidge.

Death

Joseph G. Butler, Jr., died on the eve of his 87th birthday.cite news
title = J. G. Butler Jr., Ironmaster, Dies; Youngstown Manufacturer and Philanthropist Stricken on Eve of 87th Birthday
work = The New York Times
date = December 21, 1927] A memorial service held at the Butler Institute of American Art featured a eulogy delivered by Youngstown educator O. L. Reid. The speaker highlighted Butler's rare combination of pragmatism and artistic sensibility when he stated, "His fathers were iron masters and surely in some of them must have been a keen rush of joy before the sheer beauty of the white flame of their furnaces".cite news
title = Great Civic Leader Dies
work = The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Bulletin
date = January 20, 1928
accessdate = ] Butler's funeral services were held at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Youngstown, and his remains were interred at Belmont Park Cemetery, in nearby Liberty, Ohio.cite news
title = City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away
work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
date = December 20, 1927
accessdate = 2007-02-14]

References