George Edwin Butler (June 5, 1868 – May 1, 1941) was an American lawyer and an author of research studies and works, particularly about North Carolina.
His older brother, Marion Butler, was elected as United States Senator from North Carolina.
The state's public school system was started only after the Civil War and was limited in rural areas.
In 1911, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted laws providing for the financial needs of these schools, but this lasted only two years before they eliminated the funding.
Based upon interviews with tribe members and elders in Butler's 1916 book, it appears that tribe members also shared in at least some of the Jim Crow law-era beliefs, as their plea to the state for funding was due to them not wanting their children to attend African-American schools.
[2] In its final edition, Butler's book makes a case that the State of North Carolina should provide funding for the tribe to have a school district separate from the African Americans because these people appear to be European with Native-American features as well.
[3] In 1917, the North Carolina General Assembly approved reinstatement of the law authorizing a separate schools for the Croatan Indians.