 By the early 20th century, he was a nationally known industrialist who served as director of the American Iron and Steel Institute, president of the Portage Silica Company, and a director of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Dock Company, Youngstown and Suburban Railway Company, Pennsylvania and Ohio Power & Light Company, and Commercial National Bank of Youngstown.Among American industrialists, he was known affectionately as "Uncle Joe".Butler's most celebrated legacy is the Butler Institute of American Art, located near the modern-day campus of Youngstown State University.