Harry Galpin Stoddard (September 13, 1873 – May 21, 1969) was an American businessman who became president of
Wyman & Gordon, a major industrial concern, in
Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. He was also part owner of the ''
Worcester Telegram'', using this paper in the fight against organized crime.
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Biography
Stoddard was born in Athol, Massachusetts in 1873, the son of a Baptist minister.
The family moved to Worcester in 1884. He attended Becker Business College
Becker College was a private college in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts. Becker College traced its history from the union of two Massachusetts educational institutions—one founded in 1784 and the other in 1887. The college closed at th ...
where he took secretarial courses, then worked as an office boy at a local wire manufacturer,
Washburn & Moen Company.
Stoddard worked for a while as a salesman, and then in 1902 became works manager of American Steel & Wire
AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a steelmaking company headquartered in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and Kawasaki Steel Corporation, was a ...
.
In 1904, at the age of thirty one, he became president of a large iron works in New Jersey employing several thousand workers, holding this position for seven years.
In 1911 he returned to Worcester, taking up the position of vice president of Wyman-Gordon, the largest producer of industrial forgings in the country.
In 1931 he succeeded George F. Fuller as president of Wyman-Gordon.[
His son ]Robert Waring Stoddard
Robert Waring Stoddard (January 22, 1906 – December 14, 1984) was President of Wyman-Gordon, a major industrial enterprise, and one of the founders of the anticommunist John Birch Society.
Early years
The Stoddard family was one of the oldest a ...
succeeded Harry G. Stoddard as president in 1955.[
Stoddard was also involved in banking, and in 1925 he and George W. Booth formed a partnership to buy the Worcester Telegram.
In 1938 they also bought the assets of the Worcester Evening Post, their only competitor.
Booth was a flamboyant and pugnacious journalist, while Stoddard was quiet and preferred to avoid controversy.
Despite the difference in temperament, the two worked well together.
The paper was outspoken, printing exposés of local Mafia boss ]Frank Iaconi
Frank Iaconi (c. 1895 – July 14, 1956) was an Italian American gangster who reigned as crime boss of Worcester, Massachusetts, from the days of Prohibition through 1953. Though part of the Patriarca family's territory, Worcester was in fact ...
and mob leader Raymond L.S. Patriarca
Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca (; March 17, 1908 – July 11, 1984) was an American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island, who became the long-time boss of the Patriarca crime family, whose control extended throughout New England for more th ...
during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.[
Harry Stoddard died in 1969.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoddard, Harry G.
1873 births
1969 deaths
People from Athol, Massachusetts
American business executives
Becker College alumni