Obituaries
Obituaries

Notable Atlanta researcher June Dobbs Butts dies

June Dobbs Butts, an accomplished researcher from a notable Atlanta family, died Monday from complications from a stroke. She was the daughter of John Wesley Dobbs, who witnessed Atlanta race riots in the early 1900s and who later became a city leader in civil rights. (RICH ADDICKS/AJC staff)
June Dobbs Butts, an accomplished researcher from a notable Atlanta family, died Monday from complications from a stroke. She was the daughter of John Wesley Dobbs, who witnessed Atlanta race riots in the early 1900s and who later became a city leader in civil rights. (RICH ADDICKS/AJC staff)
By Christopher Quinn
May 13, 2019

June Dobbs Butts, an accomplished researcher and childhood friend of Martin Luther King Jr., died Monday from complications from a stroke.

“She was one month shy of 91,” said Wendy Eley Jackson, a member of the family.

Butts graduated from Spelman College and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. She taught in colleges and a medical school before being trained as a sex therapist by the famed American team of William Masters and Virginia Johnson. She served as a visiting scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and she also served on the board of Planned Parenthood.

Butts was the daughter of John Wesley Dobbs, a notable African American civic leader in Atlanta. Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first African American mayor, was her nephew.

Wendy Jackson said Butts loved traveling the world and was a pioneer in many ways.

Services will be held June 11, she said.

About the Author

Christopher Quinn is a writer and editor who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1999. He writes stories on Veterans Affairs, business including high-tech growth in metro Atlanta, Georgia's $72 billion farm economy, and he oversees assigning and editing news obituaries.

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