Wesleyan University Office of the President Victor Lloyd Butterfield records
Scope and Contents
The professional papers of Wesleyan's eleventh president, Dr. Victor Lloyd Butterfield, span from 1910-1975 with the bulk of the material from Butterfield's time as President from 1943-1967. The papers include correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, appointment calendars, speeches, newspaper clippings and photographs. Aside from the administrative records, the papers include some material from Butterfield's childhood, his time as Director of Admissions at Wesleyan, his involvement in professional activities and his post-retirement life. A small section of the materials are those of Katharine Geyer Butterfield, Victor's wife.
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1975
Creator
- Butterfield, Victor Lloyd, 1904- (Person)
- Butterfield, Katharine Geyer (Person)
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.). Office of the President (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
University records - Copyright held by Wesleyan University; all other copyright is retained by the creator - In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
Biographical / Historical
Dr. Victor Lloyd Butterfield (1904-1975) served as Wesleyan University's eleventh president from 1943-1967, the longest-serving president in Wesleyan's history. Butterfield was born on February 7, 1904, in Kingston, Rhode Island, to Kenyon L. Butterfield and Harriet Millard. He married Katharina Geyer on June 11, 1928 and they had two children, Margot and Daniel.
As a child, Butterfield always wanted to be a teacher, his own father being the president of Rhode Island State College and later Massachusetts State College. Butterfield attended Deerfield Academy before moving onto Cornell where he graduated from in 1927 and later received a master's degree in 1928. In 1936, he earned his PhD from Harvard.
After teaching at independent schools and universities, Butterfield arrived at Wesleyan in 1935 as director of admissions and instructor in philosophy. Butterfield quickly progressed to Dean of Freshmen in 1938, Associate Dean in 1941 and Acting President in 1942. After a one-year stint as acting president of Wesleyan, he was inaugurated as president in 1943 and remained as such until his retirement in 1967.
During Butterfield's tenure at Wesleyan, he increased the size of the student body, the number and quality of faculty, number of buildings on campus, and the endowment fund. Butterfield also changed the curriculum to meet the demands of returning WWII soldiers, and through his dedication to liberal education he created the highly acclaimed and innovative "College Plan", established the Center for Advanced Studies and laid the framework for the re-establishment of a co-educational Wesleyan.
Butterfield, a nationally-known spokesman for liberal education, was a member and at times leader of many organizations and societies such as the Ford Foundation for Advancement of Education, and the Commission on Liberal Education of the Association of American Colleges. His involvement with such organizations and societies continued on after he retired from Wesleyan. He earned honorary degrees from 14 institutions.
Extent
71.5 Linear Feet (141 hollinger boxes and 2 metal card drawers.)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The professional papers of Wesleyan's eleventh president, Dr. Victor Lloyd Butterfield, span from 1910-1975 with the bulk of the material from Butterfield's time as President from 1943-1967.
Arrangement
The original order of these records has been maintained. Some areas contain groupings of records that are Butterfield's personal, professional activities or post-retirement records rather than administrative records during his time as president:
Boxes 68-88 include personal and professional activity materials.
Boxes 90-95 include personal materials.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 1967, 1973, and 1976. The items found in Boxes 154-155 came from the Office of Public Information and Publications in 1981 June.
Subject
- Butterfield, Victor Lloyd, 1904- (Person)
- Butterfield, Katharine Geyer (Person)
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) (Organization)
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.). Office of the President (Organization)
Topical
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Administration
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Alumni and alumnae
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Students
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Curricula
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Faculty
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- History -- 20th century
- Title
- Wesleyan University Office of the President Victor Lloyd Butterfield records, 1910-1975
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by John Spaeth; Rose Franco; Stephanie T. Gold, October, 2017 Encoded by Stephanie T. Gold, October, 2017 Moved to ArchivesSpace by Amanda Nelson, March 25, 2020
- Date
- March 25, 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the University Archives Repository