Henry J. Kaiser | |
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| Born | Henry John Kaiser (1882-05-09)May 9, 1882 |
| Died | August 24, 1967(1967-08-24) (aged 85) Honolulu, Hawaii, US |
| Occupation(s) | Industrialist, shipbuilder |
| Children | Edgar Kaiser Sr. Henry Kaiser, Jr. |
| Relatives | Edgar Kaiser Jr. (grandson) Henry Kaiser (grandson) |
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 Americanhealth care. Prior toWorld War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of those that built theHoover Dam.[1] He established theKaiser Shipyards, which builtLiberty ships duringWorld War II, after which he formedKaiser Aluminum andKaiser Steel.[2]: 2, 8–12 Kaiser organizedKaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He ledKaiser-Frazer followed byKaiser 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 withKaiser Broadcasting.
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Kaiser was born on May 9, 1882, inSprout Brook, New York, the son of Franz (a shoemaker) and Anna Marie (née Yops) Kaiser, ethnic German immigrants.[3]
Kaiser's first job was as acash boy in aUtica, New York, department store at the age of 16.[4] He worked as an apprentice photographer early in life, and was running the studio inLake Placid by the age of 20.[3]
Kaiser relocated toSpokane[5][6] and became a top salesman at a hardware company.[3] He used his savings and started a construction company in 1906 which fulfilled government contracts.[7]
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 inCamagüey Province,Cuba.[4] In 1931 his firm was one of the prime contractors in building theHoover Dam on theColorado River, and subsequently theBonneville andGrand Coulee Dams on theColumbia River.[4]
While doing business among theSix Companies, Inc. and remotely related to his interest in motor boat racing, he set up shipyards inSeattle andTacoma, where he began using mass-production techniques, such as usingwelding instead ofrivets.[7]
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 enteredWorld 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.[8]
Kaiser fought Hitler far more directly with what he is most famous for: theKaiser Shipyard inRichmond, California; duringWorld War II adapting production techniques to enable building cargo ships with an average construction time of 45 days. These ships became known asLiberty ships and were later supplemented in the mid-war period by improved, larger and fasterVictory ships. He became world-renowned when his teams built a ship in four days.[2]: 2, 8–12, 140 [9] Thekeel for the 10,500-tonSS Robert E. Peary waslaid on Sunday, November 8, 1942, and the ship waslaunched in California from theRichmond Shipyard#2 on Thursday, November 12, four days and15+1⁄2 hours later.[10][11] The previous record had been ten days for the Liberty shipJoseph M. Teal.[2]: 8, 9, 122, 140, 145
A visit to aFord 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.[12]
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Other Kaiser shipyards were located in Ryan Point (Vancouver) on theColumbia River inWashington state and onSwan Island inPortland, Oregon. A smaller vessel was completed in 71 hours and 40 minutes from the Vancouver yard on November 16, 1942.[11] The Kaiser hulls also became America's smaller, more numerous "escort carriers", over 100 small aircraft carriers employed in both thePacific and theAtlantic 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 ofbrittle 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.[2]: 10–11 By his membership in a group called theSix Companies, Kaiser also had a major role in theJoshua Hendy Iron Works ofSunnyvale, California, which built the EC-2 triple expansion steam engines for the Liberty ships. Kaiser and his associates organized theCalifornia Shipbuilding Corporation.[14]
At Kaiser Shipyards inRichmond, California, Kaiser implemented the pioneering idea ofSidney Garfield for a prepaid hospital financing plan. Opened on August 10, 1942,Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital for Kaiser Shipyards was financed by the US Maritime Commission, sponsored by Henry J. Kaiser's Permanente Foundation, and run by Garfield.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17] 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.[16] After the war, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers' families. To serve employees at his diverse businesses, Kaiser opened Permanente facilities inWalnut Creek, California;Honolulu,Hawaii; and many other locations.[18] Since then, locations have opened in Hawaii;[19]Dublin, California;[20]Livermore, California;Pleasanton, California;Martinez, California;Santa Clara, California; andAntioch, California.[21]
In 1945, Kaiser partnered with veteran automobile executive Joseph Frazer to establish a newautomobile company from the remnants ofGraham-Paige, of which Frazer had been president. Frazer was a respected auto sales executive and was noted for Chrysler's market penetration during the 1930s.[22] The new company was namedKaiser-Frazer. It used a surplusFord Motor Company defense plant atWillow Run,[23] Michigan originally built for WWII aircraft production by Ford. Kaiser-Frazer (laterKaiser Motors) produced cars under the Kaiser and Frazer names until 1955, when it abandoned the U.S. market and moved production toArgentina. The first K-F models were designed byHoward "Dutch" Darrin and these went from non-existent to number eight in new car sales within two years.[23] Although still producing Jeep vehicles, Kaiser-Willys ceased production of passenger cars in the U.S. after the 1955 model year. They continued producing Kaiser Carabela sedans, identical to the 1955 Kaiser U.S. sedans, in Argentina until 1961.
He built the Kaiser Superbus (1946, scrapped 1951) 60 feet in length with room for 63 seated passengers, and two restrooms, was constructed using magnesium, and aluminum. Only one prototype would be built. A small model used by Kaiser's sales team was reconstructed in 2016. It was a highway bus meant to go from train station to train station within the Santa Fe Railway. It was built for Santa Fe Trailways (later Continental Trailways, part of National Trailways Bus System) to run on longer routes, not entirely inside urban areas. Construction took place at the Kaiser Permanente Metals Corporation plant in Los Altos. The first, and only route, was between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Santa Fe Railway had to petition The California State Railroad Commission to operate the bus on state highways as it used atrailer, which were forbidden to use.
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TheHenry 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.[24]
In 1953, Kaiser purchasedWillys-Overland, manufacturer of theJeep line of utility vehicles, changing its name to Willys Motors.[25] In the late 1960s, Kaiser's South American operations were sold to a Ford-Renault combination. In 1963, the name was changed again toKaiser-Jeep, which was ultimately sold toAmerican Motors Corporation in 1970. As part of the transaction, Kaiser acquired a 22% interest in AMC, which was later divested.[26]
In the mid-1950s, Kaiser askedWilliam Besler to convert his 1953Kaiser Manhattan to steam. Besler completed this in either 1957 or 1958.[27][28] Kaiser did not like the remodeled car and left it with Besler.
Kaiser foundedKaiser 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.[29] 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.[30][31]
In 1948, Kaiser established the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (also known asKaiser Family Foundation), a U.S.-based, nonprofit, private operatingfoundation focusing on health care issues. Originally based inOakland, California, it later moved toMenlo Park, California. At Kaiser's death, half of his fortune was left to the foundation. It was reorganized and restructured in 1991, under CEO Drew Altman.[32] The Foundation, not associated withKaiser Permanente orKaiser Industries, operates independently as a think tank, making facts and analysis available to policymakers, health care groups, the media and the general public.[33]
As a real-estate magnate, Kaiser founded theHonolulu suburban community ofHawaiʻi Kai inHawaiʻi.[35][36][37][38] Kaiser also financed the development ofPanorama City, aplanned community in theSan Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles.[39] Schools were named in his honor inHawaii,[40] West Virginia,[41] andCalifornia.[42]
Kaiser spent many of his later years inHonolulu and developed an obsession with perfecting its urban landscape. He built the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, today known as theHilton Hawaiian Village,[43] and used bright pink Jeeps as resort transportation.[44][45] Kaiser constructed one of the first commercially practicalgeodesic domes in the United States at this resort and used it as a theater.[45][46]
In the mid-1950s, Kaiser was convinced that television could make Kaiser brand products known to the public. In 1957 Kaiser partnered withWarner Brothers and ABC to sponsor the television seriesMaverick, promoting household products including Kaiser aluminum foil and Kaiser Jeep vehicles.[47] In support of his Hawaii ventures, Kaiser induced Warner Brothers to copy the formula of its popular series77 Sunset Strip as new TV seriesHawaiian Eye. Though actually filmed at WB studios inBurbank, California, the show featured private detectives based at Kaiser's Hilton Hawaiian Village.[47][48] (The Hilton Hawaiian Village was featured inHawaii 5-0 with many scenes filmed at the resort.) Kaiser eventually bought and built a chain of radio and television stations which became known asKaiser Broadcasting. Some call signs included his initials "HK", beginning in 1957 in Honolulu with KHVH-TV 13 and KHVH AM 1040.[49]
Kaiser met his future wife, Bess Fosburgh, the daughter of aVirginia lumberman, when she came into his photographic shop inLake Placid, New York, to buy film. Fosburgh's father demanded that Kaiser show that he was financially stable before he would consent to their marriage. Kaiser became a top salesman at a hardware company inSpokane, Washington, returning ten months later with enough money to placate his future father-in-law.[3] They married on April 8, 1907, and had two children,Edgar Kaiser, Sr. and Henry Kaiser, Jr.[4]
Kaiser's first wife Bess Fosburgh died on March 14, 1951. Kaiser married her nurse Alyce Chester (reportedly with his wife's blessing) on April 10, 1951.[50][51] He adopted her son, who as Michael Kaiser, attended Lafayette Public Vallecito School. Kaiser moved his family to Hawaii in 1955. Thereafter, the West Lafayette Kaiser estate deteriorated and was eventually demolished. The property became unrecognizable, subdivided into several homes.
On August 24, 1967, Kaiser died at age 85 inHonolulu. He is interred inMountain View Cemetery in the Main Mausoleum, inOakland, California.
He was outlived by his second wife, Alyce Chester Kaiser, who inherited half his fortune, and the other half went to "theHenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which was created to support the Kaiser medical program."[52] His elder son, Edgar, who had been president of the Kaiser Industries Corporation since 1956,[53][54] was substantially wealthy even though it was a fraction of his father's.
One of Kaiser's grandsons,Edgar Kaiser Jr., became president ofKaiser Steel from 1981 to 1984, and briefly owned theDenver Broncosprofessional football franchise. Another grandson,Henry, is an Antarctic diver and experimental guitarist.[55][56]
Kaiser Industries was dissolved in the late 1970s.Koppers acquired Kaiser Sand & Gravel. Raymond International of Houston acquired Kaiser Engineers, andKaiser Broadcasting was sold toField Communications.Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics was sold to its managers.Kaiser Aluminum, Kaiser Cement, andKaiser Steel remained as independent companies.[57]Hanson Cement acquired Kaiser Cement for $200 million in 1986.[58]
Kaiser was involved in building civic centers, roads, and schools. He was part of the consortium that constructed theHoover Dam andGrand Coulee Dam.[4] Kaiser is also noted for advancing medicine with the development and construction of hospitals, medical centers and medical schools.[59][60] The mining town ofEagle Mountain, California, built as part of the West Coast's first integrated mining/processing operation, and linked by rail to his mill inFontana, California, was an early user ofKaiser Permanente, the firsthealth maintenance organization.[61]
A class of 18United States Navyfleet replenishment oilers built in the 1980s and 1990s is named theHenry J. Kaiser class. Its lead unit,USNS Henry J. Kaiser, the first U.S. Navy ship named for Kaiser, entered service with theMilitary Sealift Command on December 19, 1986.[62]
In 1990, Kaiser was made a member of theLabor Hall of Fame of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., supported by the Friends of the Department of Labor.[63][64]
On December 1, 2009, GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger and First LadyMaria Shriver inducted Kaiser posthumously into theCalifornia Hall of Fame inthe California Museum,Sacramento, California.[65][66]
