Neil A. Butler
| |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Gainesville | |
| In office 1974–1975 | |
| Preceded by | James G. Richardson |
| Succeeded by | Joseph W. Little |
| In office 1971 – February 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Perry McGriff |
| Succeeded by | T.E. "Ted" Williams |
| Member of the Gainesville City Commission | |
| In office 1972–1974 | |
| In office 1969–1971 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1927/1928 Orange Heights, Florida |
| Died | June 14, 1992 (age 64) Detroit, Michigan |
| Education | B.A. and M.A. University of Florida |
| Alma mater | Morris Brown College |
| |
Neil A. Butler (1927/1928 – June 14, 1992) was an American politician who served as mayor of Gainesville, Florida, the first African-American to hold the office since Reconstruction.
Butler was raised in then-segregated Orange Heights, Florida.[1][2] He served in combat during World War II and after returning to the U.S., worked as a nurse[2]atEmory University Hospital while attending classes at Morris Brown College.[1] He then went on to earn and B.S. and M.S. in nursing at the University of Florida where he also served as a lecturer.[1] On March 19, 1969, he won election to the Gainesville City Commission,[2] a significant accomplishment as Gainesville was 80% White at the time.[3] In 1971, he was elected by the City Commission to serve as Gainesville's first African American mayor since Josiah T. Walls during Reconstruction.[1][2] While mayor, he started a minority recruiting program to increase the number of Black firefighters and policemen; he paved most of the dirt roads in Black neighborhoods; formed a Bi-Racial Committee to help foster improved interracial relations;[2] and consolidated the various city utilities into a single entity.[4]
He resigned in February 1972, three weeks before the end of his term, after The Gainesville Sun broke a story that he had pled guilty to a $9 mail embezzlement charge in 1959 (receiving probation) when he lived in Atlanta[1][2] and that he should not have run for office as his civil rights had not been restored.[4] He was replaced by former mayor T.E. "Ted" Williams who served the remaining 45 days of his term.[2][5] Soon after, the Florida Bureau of Pardons reviewed his case and restored his civil rights.[1] Despite the prior conviction, the electorate returned him to the City Commission in March 1972[2] where he served during the administrations of Richard T. Jones (1972–1973) and James G. Richardson (1973–1974).[5] Butler was grateful that his constituents were able to see that he had been a capable mayor and did not focus on a mistake he had made years in the past stating: "I had heard that some people were worried about what would happen if a black man became mayor, but I proved to them that I wouldn’t ruin the city."[2] In 1974, he was once-again elected by the City Commission to be mayor serving until 1975 when he was succeeded by his fellow commissioner Joseph W. Little.[2]
Butler remained active in local politics as director of the Gainesville utility system[6] until the 1980s, when he moved to Newark, New Jersey to work at a Veterans Affairs nursing home and hospital; he eventually became the hospital's head psychiatric nurse.[2]
On June 14, 1992, Butler died of a heart attack while attending a wedding in Detroit.[1][2] He was a brother in the Beta Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.[7] He was a Methodist.[8]
Bro. Neil A. Butler (deceased) became the first Chapter Basileus serving from 1972 to 1974.
