Written by and about John Butler and Family
John taught English at Amherst College from 1953 to 1956, and from 1957 to 1959. John's mentor, Ted Baird, created Amherst's freshman composition course, about which Robin Varnum wrote a book, Fencing with Words. See my page about John's Connection to Robert Frost for more about Baird and other Amherst colleagues.
John was active in the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
From the mid-1960s on, John focused increasingly on teaching composition to students with limited reading and writing skills. In the summers of 1964 and 1965, he taught at the Summer Institute for Teachers of English at Predominantly Negro Colleges, Indiana University Graduate School, Bloomington, Indiana. During the following two summers, he taught Advanced Composition at the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) institute for high school teachers, George Peabody College for Teachers, in Nashville, Tennessee. During these years, he was often called upon to spend a few days consulting at inner-city high schools around the country.
John directed the Freshman English program in his last year (1965-66) at Middlebury College, before directing the Freshman-Sophomore English progams for four years at Wichita State University. After two years at Drexel, he went on to direct the Freshman English program at Peabody.
John's "Remedial Writers" article, published by NCTE in 1980, describes his work teaching effective, written, communication skills — without undue emphasis on spelling or grammar.
Written by John Francis Butler:
- Résumé
- Letter of March 1953 to his parents
- Nanny's Rash, a children's book
- Grammar Book
- 1980 article, Remedial Writers
Written by John's father, Bernard Bradley Butler:
Family history of John's mother, Beulah Belle Benton:
Genealogy compiled by Dave Butler: