Marigene Harrington Butler

Marigene Harrington Butler

July 20, 1931 – February 23, 2024

Marigene Harrington Butler, a pioneer in the field of art conservation, passed away quietly on February 23, 2024 after a short illness, surrounded by family.

Marigene was born in Ann Arbor,  Michigan on July 20, 1931 to Dr. R. Paul Harrington and Emogene Dyson Harrington.  Raised in Brooklyn, New York and Caldwell, New Jersey, she was a talented painter at an early age and she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class.  She spent summers in Marlboro, Vermont where she gained a lifelong love of the flora and fauna, the woods and the fields, and the closely-knit community.  This is also where, while a student at Mount Holyoke College, she met her future husband Dr. Daniel K. Butler on their way to the Dover Dawn Dance (an all-night square dance).  They married in June 1953 shortly after Marigene graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and painting.

As newlyweds, the Butlers lived in Cambridge Massachusetts while Dan was in graduate school.  Marigene's career in art conservation began when she answered a newspaper advertisement for a position at the Fogg Art Museum's conservation department.  She learned modern scientific techniques when these were at the vanguard of treatment methods for painting conservation, under the tutelage of Betty Jones.  She also became outstanding at inpainting.  After ten years as a full-time parent in Naperville, Illinois she continued her career at the Art Institute of Chicago.  There she helped to develop ground-breaking microscopy techniques and scientific conservation methods, one of the few women in the field at that level. This was followed by the directorship of the Intermuseum Conservation Association laboratory and graduate program in Oberlin, Ohio and finally by 20 years as Head of Conservation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Marigene retired in 1997 after training and educating generations of associates, interns and graduate students who continue her legacy today at museums and laboratories around the world.  She left a large body of work in the fields of painting conservation, analysis of materials and pigments, and historic preservation.  She was a fellow of the American Institute of Conservation, the Royal Microscopical Society, and the International Institute of Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and she was Chairman of the National Conservation Advisory Council and later a trustee of its successor, the National Institute of Conservation.

In Vermont, Marigene developed an enthusiasm for swimming in lakes, ponds and (later) indoor pools that continued for her entire life.  She also became a passionate advocate for and supporter of the Marlboro Music Festival.  She was a member of the Ames-Hill Marlboro Community Center, the Marlboro Meetinghouse and the Newfane Congregational Church.  For many years she served on the Art Advisory Board of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and the board of the Wyck Association.  She was a member of the League of Women Voters and was interested in social issues.  After she and Dan moved to Foulkeways at Gwynedd she was an active member of the Art Committee.

Marigene imbued her children and grandchildren with a love of nature, science, and art.  She is survived by her sons Daniel K. Butler, Jr. (Janice) of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, Paul H. Butler (Tiana Gianopulos) of Marlboro, Vermont and daughter Katherine M. Butler of West Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren Daniel K. Butler III, Andrew R. Butler (Sarah), Sam C. Butler, Anand M. Butler and Satya P. Butler, and her  great-granddaughter Genevieve Butler, numerous nieces and nephews, her sister Julia H. Kilby and her brother-in-law Ernest Symes. She was predeceased by her husband Dan in 2013 after 60 years of marriage, and by her sister Lynne H. Symes.

A memorial service will be held at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2024.  There will also be a service at the Newfane Congregational Church in Newfane, Vermont at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, 2024.  Burial at the King Cemetery in Marlboro, Vermont will be private.

In liue of flowers, donations may be made in Marigene's name to:

Newfane Congregational church
P.O. Box 27
Newfane, VT 05346

Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Lower Lake Road
South Hadley MA 01075
(Noting In Memory of Marigene H. Butler)