Joseph G. Butler, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Joseph G. Butler, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | December 21, 1840 Mercer County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 20, 1927 Youngstown, Ohio |
Joseph Green Butler, Jr. (December 21, 1840 - December 20, 1927) was a prominent American industrialist, philanthropist and popular historian best known for establishing the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to American art.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Butler was born in the industrial town of Temperance Furnace, located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. 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, reportedly established the first blast furnace in central Pennsylvania.[1] When Butler was still a child, his family relocated to Niles, Ohio, where he attended a village school along with future president William McKinley.[2]
[edit] Industrial career
Butler became involved in the iron business at the age of 30.[1] In time, his industrial activities centered on Youngstown, Ohio, where he proved to be a pivotal figure in the community's transition from iron to steel production.[3] 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.[4] The company went into production in 1895, only to be sold four years later to the Pittsburgh-based National Steel Company.[5] In 1901, the local plant became the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, part of the U.S. Steel Corporation.[6]
Butler's influence would extend 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, Pennsylvanie & Lake Erie Dock Company, and Commercial National Bank of Youngstown.[1] Among American industrialists, he was known affectionately as "Uncle Joe".[2]
[edit] 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.[7]
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 as follows: "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".[8]
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.[1] 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.[1]
[edit] Death
Joseph G. Butler, Jr., died on the eve of his 87th birthday. A memorial service held at the the Butler Institute of American Art included 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".[9] 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.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "City's First Citizen Sleeps Peacefully Away", The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, December 20, 1927. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
- ^ a b "Milestones", Time, January 2, 1928. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- ^ Blue, Frederick J. et al., Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County (Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1995), p. 94.
- ^ Hahoning Valley Historical Society Accessed 2007-03-31.
- ^ Hahoning Valley Historical Society Accessed 2007-03-31.
- ^ Hahoning Valley Historical Society Accessed 2007-03-31.
- ^ "Art Institute Gets Bulk of $1,5000,000 J. G. Butler Estate", The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, December 29, 1927.
- ^ "Summer Refresher", Time, July 28, 1958. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- ^ "Great Civic Leader Dies", The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Bulletin, January 20, 1928.
