Harvey Samuel Firestone Jr. (April 20, 1898 – June 1, 1973) was an American businessman. He was

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...

Biography

He was born on April 20, 1898, to Harvey Samuel Firestone and

Idabelle Smith Firestone Idabelle Smith Firestone (November 10, 1874 – July 7, 1954) was an American composer and songwriter. Biography She was born in Minnesota City, Minnesota, to Eliza B. Allen (1843–1923) and George T. Smith (1841-1921), the youngest of five chil ...

and educated at

Asheville School Asheville School is a private, coeducational, university-preparatory boarding school in Asheville, North Carolina founded in 1900. The campus sits on amid the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains and currently enrolls 295 students in grades nine throug ...

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He served as a naval aviator during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After Harvey Jr. graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1920, Harvey Sr. placed him in charge of his company's steel products division; 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was also president of the Firestone Foundation. Firestone married

Elizabeth Parke Firestone Elizabeth Parke Firestone (1897–1990) was the mother of Martha Firestone, who wed William Clay Ford Sr., grandson of Henry Ford. She is the daughter of Guy James Parke and Gertrude Chambers, and daughter-in-law of Harvey Firestone. Between 1 ...

in 1921. They had four children: Elizabeth, Anne,

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

, and Harvey Samuel III. Martha married

William Clay Ford Sr. William Clay Ford Sr. (March 14, 1925 – March 9, 2014) was an American businessman who served on the boards of Ford Motor Company and the Edison Institute. Ford owned the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was the you ...

and was, as of his death in 2014, the owner of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. Harvey III died in Havana in 1960. 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 Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

as the base for Firestone Plantations Company. He arranged for the lease of 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".

Legacy

He was inducted as a National Patron of

Delta Omicron Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship. History Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 at ...

, an international professional music fraternity for his philanthropic efforts. His grandson,

William Clay Ford Jr. William Clay Ford Jr. (born May 3, 1957) is an American businessman, serving as executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. The great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, Ford joined the board in 1988 and has served as chairman since January 19 ...

, is the current

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Directors of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

References

Sources

External links