The Kenyon L. Butterfield Papers, 1889 (1906-1924) 1945, include biographical materials, administrative and official papers of his presidencies at the Massachusetts Agricultural College (1906-1924), now the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and at the Michigan Agricultural College (1924-1928), now Michigan State University, typescripts of his talks and copies of his published writings. By far the largest part of the papers was generated during Butterfield's presidency at the University of Massachusetts, but both the earliest item, a copy of his 1889 yearbook at the Michigan Agricultural College, and the latest, a 1945 appreciation by Professor Winthrop S. Welles, are among the biographical materials.

The papers consist of correspondence and memoranda exchanged with faculty and staff, with state and federal officials and legislators, with officers of a variety of agricultural, educational and religious organizations, with students and alumni, and, now and then, with private individuals. There are, too, reports and outlines from faculty members and others; minutes of college administrative committees and of local, state, regional, and national councils and committees on which Butterfield served; surveys and working papers on problems and conditions at the campus, in Massachusetts agriculture, and in the rural sector of the nation; as well as internal memoranda of the President's office and newspaper clippings and magazine extracts regarding the development of the College and the evolution of agriculture and education in the nation.

It is not clear how many of the administrative papers generated at the College during the Butterfield era may have been lost, but those that survive have the appearance of being representative of the administrative concerns of the time. There are no materials in the collection that deal with Butterfield's activities as a teacher and nor are there family papers in this collection.

This collection is organized into five series:

• Series 1. Biographical Materials (1889-1945)
• Series 2. Massachusetts Agricultural College Administrative Papers (1906-1924)
• Series 3. Michigan Agricultural College Papers (1924-1928)
• Series 4. Organizations (1907-1930)
• Series 5. Writings (1898-1935)