Calvin Otis Butts III (July 19, 1949 – October 28, 2022) was an American academic administrator and a senior pastor of the

Abyssinian Baptist Church The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is affiliated with the National Bapt ...

, which historically was the largest black church in New York City. He led the Abyssinian Development Corporation, which focuses on

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, and was president of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury.

Early life and education

Calvin Butts III was born in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

,ReligionMakers: Rev. Calvin O. Butts
, The History Makers. on July 19, 1949. His father, Calvin Otis Butts II, worked as a cook and butcher; his mother, Eloise (Edwards), was employed as a supervisor for the New York City welfare department. Soon, the family moved to

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, where he attended public schools. He spent summers in rural

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

with his grandmothers. Elected president of his senior class, Butts graduated from

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of ...

in 1967. He was awarded a partial scholarship to study at

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

, where he joined the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity. There, he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in philosophy. After returning to New York, he earned from

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

in church history, and from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) is a doctorate in religious ministry. It often includes an original research component, and may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in ministry. It is categorized as an advanced doctoral de ...

in church and public policy.

Career

Butts joined the

in Harlem, traditionally New York City's largest and preeminent black church, as a youth minister in 1972. For decades its senior pastor, he also delivered a weekly sermon by radio on a local station, 98.7 FM (KISS-FM). During the late 1980s, Butts offered an early endorsement of the Harlem Week of Prayer, organized by Pernessa C. Seele, and helped mobilize the religious community to support programs for

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

patients and their families. Butts founded the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) in 1989, which he later chaired. The corporation is an arm of the church that undertook community projects, including the first high school constructed in Harlem in half a century, as well as several of the first national retail chain stores in the area. The ADC also oversaw the construction of one of Harlem's first new full-service supermarkets, a department store, and a shopping center. It went on to own more than 1,100 rental units, which were leased almost exclusively for low-income residents. In 1995, Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

appointed Butts to two of New York state's economic development boards – the

Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...

and the New York State Science and Technology Foundation – both of which controlled loans and grants to businesses. In 2003, Butts ordained

Conrad Tillard Conrad Bennette Tillard (born September 15, 1964) is an American Baptist minister, radio host, activist, politician, and author. Tillard was in his early years a prominent minister of the black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam (NOI) ...

, who became a preacher at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. From 1999 to 2020, Butts was the president of the

State University of New York at Old Westbury The State University of New York at Old Westbury (SUNY at Old Westbury) is a public university in Old Westbury, New York, with portions in the neighboring town of Jericho, New York. It enrolls just over 5,000 students. History The State Unive ...

."President's Biography"
, SUNY College at Old Westbury, accessed January 23, 2009. In turn, Butts received honorary degrees from a number of colleges, including the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

Claflin College Claflin University is a private historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1869 after the American Civil War by northern missionaries for the education of freedmen and their children, it offers bachelor ...

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the seminary became a four-year coll ...

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, and

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was founded as a normal school for teachers on July 4, 1881, by the ...

Personal life and death

Butts was married to Patricia Reed Butts, who founded the health ministry at her husband's church, until his death. They had three children and six grandchildren. Butts died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on October 28, 2022, at his home in

, at the age of 73.

In popular culture

One of Butts's sermons inveighing against hardcore rap music was ironically sampled by the group

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

in their

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

hit song " Thuggish Ruggish Bone".

References

External links

Abyssinian Baptist Church

State University of New York at Old Westbury

Abyssinian Development Corporation
Official Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, Calvin O. 1949 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Activists for African-American civil rights African-American activists African-American Baptist ministers American civil rights activists American radio personalities Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) Drew University alumni Morehouse College alumni People from Bridgeport, Connecticut State University of New York at Old Westbury faculty