James (Jim) Butler (1945-2020) was born in Pittsburgh, PA. Butler graduated from Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from LaSalle University. He later earned a PhD from Cornell University. He taught in LaSalle’s English Department for over 40 years, serving as department chair and Director of the Honors Program.

His primary scholarship focused on poet William Wordsworth, but he had a strong penchant for local history. Butler did extensive research on famous artist Charles Wilson Peal and the Wister family both of whom resided in the historic home, Belfield, which is still standing on La Salle’s campus. Butler wrote broadly about Belfield and its residents, and encouraged La Salle students to do the same. La Salle University’s Digital Commons (https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/) houses essays written by Butler and his students about Belfield and its families. Butler also authored an account of Peale’s time at Belfield, “Charles Wilson Peale’s ‘Belfield’: A History of a National Historic Landmark 1684-1984.”

Butler regularly led tours of Belfield and the surrounding grounds and videotapes of the tour accessible through La Salle’s Digital Commons. He also cultivated the University’s connection to the Wister family and helped to establish the Wister Family Papers and related collections, housed in La Salle University’s Special Collections Department. Butler was a member of the Germantown Historical Society and Jenkins’ Town Lyceum.