Walker Butler Papers

An inventory of the collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Biographical Sketch

Walker Butler (1898-1969), the son of State Senator Michael J. and Margaret (McKevitt Butler, was born on Chicago's southeast side. After attending the Oakland and Libby public schools and graduating from Loyola Academy, Chicago, he attended Campion College in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he pursued a pre-law course prior to enrolling in the Loyola School of Law, Chicago. In 1920, he received his law degree, was admitted to the Illinois State Bar, and joined the Republican law firm of Litsinger, Healy, and Reid as a law clerk.

By 1922, Butler had begun to practice on his own, specializing in both criminal and civil law. His trial work attracted the attention of Robert E. Crow, States Attorney of Cook County, Illinois, who appointed him as an assistant states attorney, 1926-1933, immediately assigning Butler to the South Chicago and Grand Crossing police courts. After six months, Butler joined Harry Ditchburn's staff of prosecutors.

As a prosecutor, Butler's specialty was organized crime, and he was successful in prosecuting such criminals as Willie Doody, Howard Door, Frank Bell, Gus Vogel, Richard Sullivan, and James (Iggy) Varecha. In addition, the St. Valentines Day Massacre, February 14, 1929. was assigned to Butler who pursued the investigation of this case for two years.

Butler returned to his private law practice in 1933. However, his retirement from public life was brief as he was appointed a special assistant attorney general Otto Kerner, the Illinois Attorney General. Butler prosecuted cases having to do with the mine war murders in southern Illinois, voting fraud in Madison County and vice in Champaign.

In 1939, Walker Butler married Erva Thompson and had two sons, Walker Jr., and Gary D. Butler.

In 1941, Governor Dwight Green asked Butler to establish the first Illinois training school for state police. Through his leadership as director, 1941-1942, he succeeded in attracting qualified teaching faculty and in standardizing the requirements for the state police, including physical examinations. Courses on the law of evidence arrest and trial procedures, investigations, and other essentials of police work were taught.

In 1942, Butler was elected to the Illinois Senate as a representative of the 13th senatorial district, a position to which he was re-elected in 1946 and 1950. One of the first issues to be considered by Senator Butler was property tax. As chairman, 1944-1945, of the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Tax Problems, he sponsored legislation providing for uniformity of assessment.

In 1947, Butler was appointed the first chairman of the Youthful Offenders' Commission. This Commission investigated the conditions at the St. Charles Training School for Boys, and proposed a program to prevent juvenile delinquency. In 1953, this Commission was renamed the Illinois Youth Commission.

Butler served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules, 1945-1953, the Joint Legislative Commission on Disability Unemployment Compensation, 1945-1946, the Joint Legislative Commission on State Government Personnel Practices, and the Municipal Revenue Commission, 1951-1952. In addition, he was Majority Whip from 1949 to 1952, President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader from 1952-1953.

While serving in the Senate, Butler took on the legal case of Joseph Majczek. Majczek had served thirteen years of a life sentence in Joliet Penitentiary when new evidence established his innocence. As legal counsel, Butler contributed to Majczek's exoneration and official pardon.

Butler was known as the "father of the port" for his efforts to procure legislation establishing an authority to develop Lake Calumet Harbor and its connecting waterways. In 1951, the Illinois General Assembly created the Chicago Regional Port District Board. The Board could issue revenue bonds to finance dock construction, with the aim of providing more jobs and attracting more diversified industry into the Calumet Harbor area. In addition, the General Assembly appropriated $100, 000 for the completion of the Board's surveys and plans for construction of dock facilities. Civic, industrial and union leaders of the South Chicago area honored Walker Butler when they dedicated the Pennsylvania Railroad's new dock, the Walker Butler Dock.

When Butler resigned from the Illinois Senate in 1953 when he was elected Judge of the Superior Court, now the Circuit Court of Cook County. He held this position until his death in 1969. Judge Butler alternated between the criminal court, the divorce court and the common law jury division. In addition, he was assigned as Chancellor to hear equity cases in 1957. In 1961, he was elected President of the Illinois State Association of Superior and Circuit Judges.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, clippings, reports, newsletters, minutes, speeches, pamphlets, programs, photographs, and scrapbooks. The materials pertain to Walker Butler's career as a legislator and jurist. Topics include development projects in Chicago, police training, the Chicago Transit Authority strike of 1968, and housing and workplace discrimination.

Detailed Description/Box and Folder Listing