January 1, 2007

Osceola (Mississippi County) native Ben F. Butler was a well-known civic and political leader, on local and state levels, who served as mayor of Osceola during four different decades (1937-1967). Butler is credited as the driving force in transforming Osceola from a small farm town to an industrialized small city. During his lifetime, he received many honors, including being named mayor emeritus of Arkansas by the Arkansas Municipal League, a title bestowed on fewer than a dozen Arkansans. Butler can be seen here standing to the right of Governor Orval Faubus.