Harvey S. Firestone Jr.

Harvey Samuel Firestone Jr. (April 20, 1898 – June 1, 1973) was an American businessman. He was chairman of the board of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.

Harvey S. Firestone Jr.
Born
Harvey Samuel Firestone Jr.

(1898-04-20)April 20, 1898
Columbiana, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJune 1, 1973(1973-06-01) (aged 75)
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University
OccupationVice President of Firestone Tires
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1921)​
Children4, including Martha
Parent(s)Harvey S. Firestone Sr.
Idabelle Smith Firestone

Biography

He was born on April 20, 1898, to Harvey Samuel Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone and educated at Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina. He served as a naval aviator during World War I. After Harvey Jr. graduated from Princeton University in 1920, Harvey Sr. placed him in charge of his company's steel products division;[1] Harvey Jr. took over the leadership of the company in 1941.

Firestone helped establish the company's supply and service stores, and guided its operations during World War II.[2] He was also president of the Firestone Foundation.

Firestone married Elizabeth Parke Firestone in 1921. They had four children: Elizabeth, Anne, Martha, and Harvey Samuel III. Martha married William Clay Ford Sr. and was, as of his death in 2014, the owner of the Detroit Lions. Harvey III died in Havana in 1960.[3] Harvey Jr. died on June 1, 1973.

Liberia

During World War I, Britain and the Netherlands controlled 98% of the raw materials necessary for the production of rubber. After the Rubber Restriction Act was passed in Britain in 1922, the costs that the Firestone Company paid for its supplies rose. Starting in 1924, Firestone was assigned to travel worldwide in search of locations where the company could grow its own rubber. After visits to Asia and to Mexico, he settled on Liberia as the base for Firestone Plantations Company. He arranged for the lease of 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) of Liberian territory, a little more than 3 percent of that nation's area. The 12,000 Liberian employees were paid low wages, because, as former employee Arthur Hayman described, the Liberian government felt that "men with money in their pockets would eventually have demanded the ballot".[4]

Legacy

He was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity for his philanthropic efforts.[5]

His grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ford Motor Company.[6]

See also

References
  1. Current Biography 1944, pp205-07
  2. "Worldwide News and comment: Harvey S Firestone". Autocar. Vol. 138 nbr 4020. 14 June 1973. pp. 2–3.
  3. "Harvey Firestone 3d Dies in Havana Fall". New York Times. May 6, 1960. Havana, May 5, 1960, Harvey S. Firestone 3d plunged to his death from the twentieth floor of a Havana luxury hotel tonight, six hours after arriving here from Miami. The victim, who was 32 years old, was the son of Harvey S. Firestone Jr., chairman of the board of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.
  4. Arthur Hayman, Lighting Up Liberia, quoted in Current Biography at p207
  5. Delta Omicron Archived 2010-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Ford names new CEO". CNN. September 5, 2006.

Sources
  • "Almanac of Famous People" (eighth ed.). 2004. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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