Records of the President, Kenyon L. Butterfield (Rec.Gr.1.3)

Biographical/Historical Note

Kenyon Butterfield was born on June 11, 1868, in Lapeer, Michigan. He received a B.S. as the head of his class from Michigan Agricultural College . From 1892 to 1896, he served as editor to the Michigan Grange Visitor. From 1895 to 1899, he served as superintendent to the Michigan Farmers’ Institute and as field agent for the Michigan Agricultural College. In 1902 he received an A.M. degree from the University of Michigan, where he was appointed Instructor in Rural Sociology.

In 1903, Butterfield accepted the position of president of Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, following the abrupt departure of John Washburn, its first president. He served as President from 1903 to 1906. A president who understood the value of public relations, Butterfield ambitiously began a campaign of introducing the College to rural Rhode Island. However, his efforts to convince Andrew Carnegie to fund a library for the College met with disappointment, as did his hopes for the agricultural character of the College. In January of 1906, Butterfield announced to the Board of Managers that he would accept the Presidency of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Butterfield's interests lay more in developing the agricultural side of the College and in 1906 it was becoming clear that the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts’ strength lay not in its agricultural program. Of the seventeen students entering the College in 1905 only two decided upon agricultural careers.

Butterfield served as President of Massachusetts Agricultural College from 1906 to 1924. During his presidency he also served on the Commission for the Study of Agricultural Credits and Cooperation in Europe (appointed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913), as chairman for the Massachusetts Food Supply Commission (1917), as a member of the U.S. Army Education Commission, and as Education Director of the American Expeditionary Forces from 1918-1919. In 1919, he organized the World Agricultural Council and American Country Life Association. He was given an honorary LL.D. from Rhode Island State College in 1921.

In 1924, Butterfield left the Massachusetts Agricultural College to become President of Michigan Agricultural College. He served for four years until 1928, when he retired to New Jersey. He published nine books on rural problems in the United States, India, China, and Asia. He died in New Jersey on November 26, 1935.