Henry J. Kaiser
Henry J. Kaiser | |
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Edgar Kaiser, Jr (grandson) (grandson)Henry Kaiser |
Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of those that built the Hoover Dam.[1] He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel.[2] Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser Motors, automobile companies known for the safety of their designs. Kaiser was involved in large construction projects such as civic centers and dams, and invested in real estate, later moving into television broadcasting. With his wealth, he established the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, non-partisan, charitable organization.[citation needed]
Early life
Kaiser was born on May 9, 1882, in Sprout Brook, New York, the son of Franz and Anna Marie (née Yops) Kaiser, ethnic German immigrants.[3] His father was a shoemaker.[3] Kaiser's first job was as a cash boy in a Utica, New York, department store at the age of 16.[4] He worked as an apprentice photographer early in life, and was running the studio in Lake Placid by the age of 20.[3] He used his savings to move to Washington state in 1906, where he started a construction company fulfilling government contracts.[5]
Kaiser met his future wife, Bess Fosburgh, the daughter of a
In 1914 Kaiser founded a paving company, Henry J. Kaiser Co., Ltd.,[4] one of the first to use heavy construction machinery. His firm expanded significantly in 1927 when it received an $18-million contract to build roads in Camagüey Province, Cuba.[4] In 1931 his firm was one of the prime contractors in building the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, and subsequently the Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams on the Columbia River.[4]
While doing business among the "
World War II
Henry Kaiser was an early advocate of bringing American aid to those suffering from German aggression in Europe. In 1940, a full year before the US had entered World War II, Kaiser served as National Chairman of United Clothing Collection for International War Relief to provide much-needed clothing for the refugees from Hitler's conquests in Europe.[6]
Kaiser Shipbuilding
Kaiser fought Hitler far more directly with what he is most famous for: the
A visit to a Ford assembly plant by one of his associates led to a decision to use welding instead of riveting for shipbuilding. Welding was advantageous because it took less strength to do and it was easier to teach to thousands of employees, who were mostly unskilled laborers and many women. Kaiser adopted the use of sub-assemblies in ship construction. Formerly, hundreds of laborers crowded together to complete a ship. Though that practice had been tried on the East Coast and in Britain, Kaiser was able to take full advantage of the process by constructing new shipyards using this concept.[11]
Other Kaiser shipyards were located in Ryan Point (Vancouver) on the Columbia River in Washington state and on Swan Island in Portland, Oregon. A smaller vessel was turned out in 71 hours and 40 minutes from the Vancouver yard on November 16, 1942.[12] The Kaiser hulls also became America's smaller, more numerous "escort carriers", over 100 small aircraft carriers employed in both the Pacific and the Atlantic theaters. The concepts that he developed for the mass production of commercial and naval ships are still in use.[13]
One problem with welded hulls that was unknown is the issue of brittle fracture. That caused the loss of some Liberty ships in cold seas as the welds failed and the hulls would crack, sometimes completely into two. Constance Tipper was one of the first people to discover why the Liberty ships were breaking into two. Minor changes in design and more rigid welding control implemented in 1947 eliminated Liberty ship losses until 1955.[14] By his membership in a group called the Six Companies, Kaiser also had a major role in the Joshua Hendy Iron Works of Sunnyvale, California, which built the EC-2 triple expansion steam engines for the Liberty ships. Kaiser and his associates organized the California Shipbuilding Corporation.[15]
Kaiser Permanente
At Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California, Kaiser implemented the pioneering idea of Sidney Garfield of Kaiser Permanente. Opened on August 10, 1942, Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital for Kaiser Shipyards was financed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, sponsored by Henry J. Kaiser's Permanente Foundation, and run by Garfield.[16] In part because of wartime materials rationing, the Field Hospital was a single-story wood-frame structure designed in a simple modernist mode. Originally intended for use primarily as an emergency facility, the Field Hospital opened with only 10 beds. Later additions had increased its capacity to 160 beds by 1944.[17]
Kaiser's Richmond Field Hospital served as the mid-level component of a three-tier medical care system that included six well-equipped First Aid Stations at the shipyards and the main Permanente Hospital in Oakland, where the most critical cases were treated.[18] By August 1944, 92.2% of all Richmond shipyard employees had joined Kaiser Permanente, the first voluntary group plan in the country to feature group medical practice, prepayment, and substantial medical facilities on such a large scale.[17] After the war, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers' families. To serve employees at his diverse businesses, Kaiser opened Permanente facilities in Walnut Creek, California, in Hawaii,[19] in Southern California, and eventually in many other locations.[20] Since then, locations have opened in Dublin, California;[21] Livermore, California; Pleasanton, California; Martinez, California; Santa Clara, California; and Antioch, California.[22] However, the Kaiser family itself has had no connection with Kaiser Permanente.[citation needed]
Postwar
Kaiser Automobiles
Kaiser-Frazer
In 1945, Kaiser partnered with veteran automobile executive Joseph Frazer to establish a new
Henry J.
The Henry J was built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Production of six-cylinder models began in July 1950, and four-cylinder production started shortly after Labor Day, 1950. Official public introduction was September 28, 1950. The car was marketed through 1954.
Kaiser-Frazer held a contest to name their new car, with Henry J being the winning name. A lawsuit by a shareholder in the company alleged that "The name is so ridiculous that it can be justified on no other ground than to satisfy a deep ingrained megalomanic desire for personal publicity". It is unknown the outcome of the suit and in the end, the car was named after Kaiser.[23]
Jeep and South America
In 1953, Kaiser purchased
Private projects
In the mid-1950s, Kaiser asked William Besler to convert his 1953 Kaiser Manhattan to steam. Besler completed this in either 1957 or 1958.[26][27] Kaiser did not like the remodeled car and left it with Besler.
Kaiser Aluminum
Kaiser founded Kaiser Aluminum in 1946 by leasing and later purchasing aluminum facilities in Washington state from the U.S. government. The original facilities included reduction plants at Mead and Tacoma, and a rolling mill at Trentwood.[28] Kaiser Aluminum expanded to become an integrated aluminum company, mining and refining bauxite and creation of alumina, the production of primary aluminum from alumina, and manufacturing fabricated and semi-fabricated aluminum products.[29][30]
Kaiser Family Foundation
In 1948, Kaiser established the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (also known as
Real estate
As a real-estate magnate, Kaiser founded the
Hawaii Village Hotel
Kaiser spent many of his later years in Honolulu and developed an obsession with perfecting its urban landscape. He built the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, today known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village,[42] and used bright pink Jeeps as resort transportation.[43][44] Kaiser constructed one of the first commercially practical geodesic domes in the United States at this resort and used it as a theater.[44][45]
Television
In the mid-1950s, Kaiser was convinced that television could make Kaiser brand products known to the public. In 1957 Kaiser partnered with
Personal life
Kaiser's first wife Bess Fosburgh died on March 14, 1951. Kaiser married the nurse who had cared for her, Alyce Chester (reportedly with his wife's blessing) on April 10, 1951.[49][50] He adopted her son, who as Michael Kaiser, attended nearby Lafayette public Vallecito School. Kaiser's attention soon transferred to Hawaii, and in 1955 he moved his family there. After Kaiser moved to Hawaii, the west Lafayette Kaiser estate deteriorated and was eventually demolished. Today, the property is unrecognizable, subdivided into several homes.
Death
On August 24, 1967, Kaiser died at the age of 85 in Honolulu. He is interred in Mountain View Cemetery in the Main Mausoleum, in Oakland, California.
He was outlived by his second wife, Alyce Chester Kaiser, who inherited half his fortune,
One of Kaiser's grandsons, Edgar Kaiser Jr., became president of Kaiser Steel from 1981 to 1984, and briefly owned the Denver Broncos NFL franchise.
Another grandson, Henry, is an Antarctic diver and experimental guitarist.[54][55]
Legacy
Kaiser was involved in building civic centers, roads, and schools. He was part of the consortium that constructed the Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam.[4] Kaiser is also noted for advancing medicine with the development and construction of hospitals, medical centers and medical schools.[56][57] The mining town of Eagle Mountain, California, built as part of the West Coast's first integrated mining/processing operation, and linked by rail to his mill in Fontana, California, was an early user of Kaiser Permanente, the first health maintenance organization.[58]
A class of 18
In 1990, Kaiser was made a member of the
On December 1, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Kaiser posthumously into the California Hall of Fame in the California Museum, Sacramento, California.[62][63]
See also
- KaiserAir, an airline and charter company divested from Kaiser Steel
References
- ISBN 0806128534.
- ISBN 1850440492.
- ^ a b c d Schanetzky, Tim. "Henry J. Kaiser". In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified February 6, 2014.
- ^ Harper & Brothers. pp. 64–75.
- ^ ISBN 0756667410
- ISBN 978-1783831555. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Video: America Reports On Aid To Allies Etc. Universal Newsreel. 1942. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ISBN 1850440492.
- ^ "Richmond 'Wonder Ship' To Test Pre-Fabrication Work", Oakland Tribune November 11, 1942, p. 1; "Kaiser Claims Second Record", Oakland Tribune, November 17, 1942, p. 1
- ISBN 1850440492.
- ^ Pursell, Carroll. Technology in Postwar America (2007), Columbia University Press, p. 16
- ^ "Kaiser Claims Second Record", Oakland Tribune, November 17, 1942, p. 1
- ISBN 039331619X. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ISBN 1850440492.
- ISBN 0253212901
- ^ "Rosie the Riveter – World War II Home Front National Historical Park". World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area. National Park Service. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
- ^ a b "Kaiser Permanente Field Hospital Nomination to the Register of Historic Places". United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Old Hospital Holds Memories of Kaiser Permanente's Past". about.kaiserpermanente.org. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ "Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific Health vie for Maui hospital merger". Pacific Business News. August 25, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ISBN 978-1857757507. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser to Build Hospital in Dublin, Calif". SecurityInfoWatch.com. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ^ "Adult Medicine". Kaiser Permanente Thrive. Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "A car by any other name". about.kaiserpermanente.org. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ Wright, Kelsey. "Kaiser Cars, 1947–1955". Allpar LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser". Unique Cars and Parts USA. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser-Besler Engine". Kimmel Steam Power. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Steamers Steam-Up Again, Sam Miner, Science and Mechanics, November 1961
- ^ "Kaiser Aluminum-Spokane". Mesothelioma.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser Aluminum". Asbestos.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "A Legendary Industrialist and Social Advocate". Kaiser Aluminum. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "History and Mission". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. January 2004. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "National, Regional & State Organizations". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0393730807.
- ^ "2006 Building Industry Hall of Fame Awardee Henry Kaiser". Building Industry Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016.
- ^ Roig, Suzanne (September 20, 2007). "Revisiting early years of Hawaii Kai". Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Hancock, Lambreth (1983). Hawaii Kai, the first 20 years.
- ^ "Part 1 Hawaii Business salutes the people, places, businessses and events that profoundly changed Hawaii over the past half century". Hawaii Business. June 2005. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0801855436.
- ^ "Henry J. Kaiser High School". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Henry J Kaiser Elementary School". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- ^ "Henry J. Kaiser Elementary School". Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- ^ "The History of Hilton Hawaiian Village". Hilton Hawaiian Village. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Tycoons: Henry J.'s Pink Hawaii". Time. October 24, 1960. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ a b "Henry J. Kaiser, Hawaiian Booster". The Antiplanner. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Kushing, Lincoln. "Henry J. Kaiser, geodesic dome pioneer". Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0292704572.
- ^ Tsuchiyama, Ray (June 15, 2013). "Before Hawai'i 5-0: Hawaiian Eye". The Maui News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Thriving with 1960s-launched KFOG radio – then and now". Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser and bride are honeymooning". Reading Eagle. April 11, 1951. p. 4. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Dressed to Kill: The 1954 Kaiser Darrin". Ate up with motor. June 30, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Kaiser Family Foundation". InsideGov.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Henry Kaiser Is Dead". Madera Tribune. 73. August 25, 1967. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Kennedy, Shawn G. (December 13, 1981). "Edgar F. Kaiser Dies at Age 73; Headed Vast Family Corporation". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Myles Boisen (September 19, 1952). "Henry Kaiser | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- ^ "Henry Kaiser". Two Bit Media. February 27, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ISBN 978-1581313383. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Total Hospitals". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0738546506.
- ^ U.S. Department of Labor (Labor Hall of Fame – Henry J. Kaiser) Archived May 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, dol.gov; accessed February 23, 2014.
- ^ Labor Hall of Fame 3rd annual induction ceremony [videorecording] : honoring Robert F. Wagner, Walter P. Reuther, Henry J. Kaiser, Eugene V. Debs. Washington, D.C.: United States. Department of Labor. 1990.
- ISBN 978-0313300004. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Health Care Pioneer Henry J. Kaiser Inducted Into The California Hall of Fame". PR Newswire. December 1, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ "Milk, Steel, Madden, Lucas inducted into Hall of Fame". San Francisco News. December 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
Further reading
- Adams, Stephen B. Mr. Kaiser Goes to Washington: The Rise of a Government Entrepreneur (1998) [ISBN missing]
- Cobbs, Elizabeth Anne. The Rich Neighbor Policy: Rockefeller and Kaiser in Brazil (1994) [ISBN missing]
- Dias, Ric A. "Henry J. Kaiser: Can-do Capitalist, 'Government Entrepreneur,' and Western Booster", Journal of the West (Fall 2003) 42#3 pp. 54–62.
- Dias, Ric A. "'Built to serve the growing West'", Journal of the West (Oct 1999) 38#4 pp. 57–64, on Kaiser Steel
- Foster, Mark S. Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West (1993)
- Foster, Mark S. "Prosperity's Prophet: Henry J. Kaiser and the Consumer/Suburban Culture: 1930–1950", Western Historical Quarterly (1986) 17#2 pp. 165–184 in JSTOR
- Gilford, Stephen A. Build 'Em by the Mile, Cut 'Em off by the Yard: How Henry J. Kaiser and the Rosies Helped Win World War II (2011) [ISBN missing]
- Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II (2012)
- Schwarz, Jordan A. The New Dealers: Power politics in the age of Roosevelt (Vintage, 2011) pp 297–342. online
External links
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
- History of Kaiser Aluminum
- "Henry J.'s Pink Hawaii". Time. October 24, 1960. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2007.
- Henry J. Kaiser online image collection, The Bancroft Library
- Newspaper clippings about Henry J. Kaiser in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW