William Adolph Irvin (December 7, 1873 - January 1, 1952) was the president of

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

Biography

He was born on December 7, 1873, in

Indiana, Pennsylvania Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The population was 13,564 at the 2020 census, and since 2013 has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. After being a long time par ...

. In 1931 he was named vice president of U.S. Steel. After his father died while he was in the eighth grade, he dropped out of grade school to support his mother. He went straight to the mines and worked his way up to the corporations, where he eventually became president. His first wife died giving birth to their fifth child. He and his second wife, Gertrude Irvin, never had any children. He died on January 1, 1952, in the Harkness Pavilion of the Presbyterian Hospital in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

''S.S. William A. Irvin''

Irvin's namesake ore boat, the ''William A. Irvin'' was christened in 1938 and served as a

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of U.S. Steel's

Great Lakes fleet Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. is a shipping firm headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota that operates a fleet of nine self-unloading bulk carriers on the Great Lakes transporting dry bulk cargo such as iron ore, coal and limestone. History Great Lakes Fl ...

until her retirement in 1978. The vessel was purchased by the

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in Duluth, Minnesota. It was home to the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog hockey team from 1966 to 2010. The DECC is located on th ...

and was converted to a maritime museum in 1986. It floats on a slip in the harbor of

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

References

1873 births 1952 deaths U.S. Steel people People from Indiana, Pennsylvania {{more cats, date=October 2020