Frederic Marsena Butts was born in Newton Centre, Mass., in 1887. He graduated from Amherst College in 1909. He traveled widely from July 1909 to January 1910. Butts entered the manufacturing business, first in sales of heavy hardware (1910-1917), and after 1919 in management of the Butts and Ordway Company, Boston. In 1946 he became a member of the Amherst College Alumni Council and served as its chairman in 1949-1950. In 1917 he married Lydia Louise Mirrick, with whom he had four children. He died on January 1, 1960.
The bulk of the collection consists of writings and photographs documenting Butts' trip to the Mediterranean, Asia and North Africa, July 1909-January 1910. Destinations included Malta, the Suez Canal, Egypt (Cairo), Singapore, the Philippines, Japan (Kobe, Kyoto), India (Calcutta), Algeria and Morocco. Butts kept a travel diary, in two copies: one to send to his family and a second carbon copy which he kept. Also included are a typescript of a speech which Butts apparently gave before an Amherst College alumni group and copies of correspondence about a scholarship Butts established at Amherst in honor of his late son.
There is no restriction on access to the collection for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection: [identification of item], in Frederic Marsena Butts (AC 1909) Papers [Box #, folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library
Gift of Mrs. Nancy Whittemore in November 2006.
Proessed 2006 Nov by Peter A. Nelson
Objects Collection -- Swimming medal, Pratt Natatorium, 1909 (OB2006-227)