Larry Scott Butler Papers

Larry Scott Butler was born in 1943 in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, a conservative Christian community. As a teenager, he served as an itinerant preacher in local Methodist chapels. While a student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he became interested in Quakerism and joined Warrington Monthly Meeting in 1965. During his senior year, he worked as a preacher in Adams County migrant camps, developing a Pentecostal style of preaching. After graduating from College in 1965, he volunteered for the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was sent to work in Barbour County, Alabama. In 1966, he settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he became a leading force in the gay rights movement while doing social work. In the 1970s he taught at Friends Select School and became active in Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, serving on Yearly Meeting committees on gay and lesbian concerns. In 1980 he moved to Florida and worked with developmentally disabled adults until his retirement in 20016. He was a founder and active member of Fort Myers Friends Meeting.