Lysle K. Butler Papers

Lysle Kendall Butler was born on August 27, 1903, in West Carrollton, Ohio, the son of Charles William "Buck" (1881-1970) and Josephine M. "Josie" Hunt Butler (1883-1913). During his high school years at Steele High School in Dayton, Ohio, he starred in both basketball and football. In 1921, he entered Oberlin College, again distinguishing himself as an athlete. After winning three letters each in basketball and football, he joined the tennis team during his senior year and earned a seventh letter. He was selected for the All-Ohio football teams in both 1923 and 1924.

After graduation from Oberlin College (A.B. 1925), he coached baseball, football, and track at Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, before becoming head of physical education at Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio. In 1928, he received an A.M. degree from Columbia University, and in 1930 joined the Oberlin College faculty as football coach and Assistant Professor of Physical Education. He coached football for 28 years, basketball for 11, and tennis for 20. His tennis teams were undefeated in 44 consecutive matches. Mr. Butler earned his Ph.D. at the Ohio State University in 1947 and was promoted to full professor at Oberlin College the following year (1948). From 1955-70, he was Athletic Director at the college. During his tenure in this position, he helped to found the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. In 1972, he was named to the Helms Athletic Directors’ Hall of Fame.

Through his career, whether at Oberlin College, at the Ohio Athletic Conference, where he served as president, or at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Lysle Butler insisted that athletics must serve an educational, not promotional, purpose. “The player must not be sacrificed for the championship. His education and his development are the reasons for athletics in educational institutions.” Specifically, he promoted abolishing athletic scholarships and all special privileges for athletes and having all athletic programs financed by college funds. He also favored having coaches teach physical education courses and prohibiting them from recruiting off-campus. He urged that Oberlin enter athletic competitions only at institutions with similar objectives. He explained these convictions in his many published articles, including the undated “Athletic Directors—Planners or Scramblers” and “The Administration of College Athletics.”

In the early 1970s, he warned that college football was in danger of becoming a victim of its own success and advocated development of leisure time physical activities, an unpopular idea at the time. However, he persuaded the Trustees of Oberlin College of his position and was responsible for much of the planning of the Philips Physical Education Center, which has been popular since it opened in 1970.

Mr. Butler was active in the politics of the City of Oberlin, serving two terms on the city council. He was a member of the Allen Memorial Hospital construction board and a trustee of the Lorain County T.B. and Health Association. In 1973, he received the “Senior Citizen Award” from the Oberlin Health Commission.

On December 29, 1928, Mr. Butler married Alice Dorothy Morgan (1904-1988, enr. Cons. 1923-26.) The couple had two daughters: Nancy (1933-2012; A.B. 1956) and Jane (1936-2011).

Lysle Kendall Butler died in Elyria, Ohio, on July 6, 1973.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Losses in the Oberlin Family.” Oberlin Alumni Magazine (September/October 1973): 65.

Lysle Kendall Butler. Oberlin College Faculty Memorial Minute.

“Lysle K. Butler Dies At Age 69.” Oberlin News-Tribune (July 12, 1973): 6.

Note written by Elizabeth Brinkman.