Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Making a Difference in Rural Illinois
A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development
Kenyon L. Butterfield
Country Life Commission Member
Kenyon Leech Butterfield was born on June 11, 1868, in the small farming community of Lapeer, MI. He became interested in the sociological problems of the farmer. As a result, he devoted much of his work to assisting rural residents in adjusting to the social, economic, and religious trends of the day.
Butterfield received his B.S. degree from the Michigan Agricultural College in 1891. From 1891 to 1900, was secretary of the college, editor of the Grange Department of the Michigan Farmer, superintendent of the Michigan Farmer's Institute, and field agent for the Michigan Agricultural College.
In 1900, Butterfield began advanced degree work at the University of Michigan in economics and rural sociology. He received his M.A. in 1902. In 1903, he was elected president of the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. In 1906, he resigned to become president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, where he received his LL.D. in 1910. In 1924, he became president of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Arts. In 1927, he came under fire from the State Board of Agriculture for appointing two friends from Massachusetts to executive positions at the college with salaries above those of other college officials. A conflict also developed over whether the president or the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture controlled the college. As a result, Butterfield was asked to resign.
In addition to his education career and service on the Country Life Commission, Butterfield helped organize the American County Life Association. He served as president for many years. During World War I, he was chairman of the Massachusetts Committee on Food Production and Conservation and was also commissioner in charge of Agricultural education in the American Expeditionary Forces. He was a member of the Educational Commission in China in 1921 and was a special delegate to the International Missionary Council in Jerusalem as well.
On November 25, 1936, Butterfield died at his home in Amherst, NJ.
Works by Kenyon L. Butterfield
- 1905. The Social Problems of American Farmers. Chicago, IL: University Press.
- 1908. Chapters in Rural Progress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- 1911. The Country Church and the Rural Problem: The Carew Lectures at Hartford Theological Seminary, 1909. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- 1919. The Farmer and the New Day. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919.
- 1923. A Christian Program for the Rural Community. Nashville, TN: Pub. House M.E. Church, South.
Resource
- Michigan State University. “Kenyon L. Butterfield: Biographical Information.” University Archives and Historical Collections, http://www.archives.msu.edu/butterfield.htm (Accessed: May 21, 2008).
