Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of those that built the

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

. He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships 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 ...

, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser P ...

health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser 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. With his wealth, he established the

Kaiser Family Foundation KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), also known as The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is an American non-profit organization, headquartered in San Francisco, California. It prefers KFF since its legal name can cause confusion as it is no longer a ...

, a nonprofit, non-partisan, charitable organization.

Early life

Kaiser was born on May 9, 1882, in Sprout Brook, New York, the son of Franz and Anna Marie (née Yops) Kaiser, ethnic German immigrants. His father was a shoemaker. Kaiser's first job was as a cash boy in a

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

, department store at the age of 16. He worked as an apprentice photographer early in life, and was running the studio in Lake Placid by the age of 20.Schanetzky, Tim
"Henry J. Kaiser"
In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified February 6, 2014. He used his savings to move to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

state in 1906, where he started a construction company fulfilling government contracts.Lavery, Brian. ''Ship: The Epic Story of Maritime Adventure'' (2004), ''Smithsonian''. p. 317 Kaiser met his future wife, Bess Fosburgh, the daughter of a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

lumberman, when she came into his photographic shop in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

, to buy film. Fosburgh's father demanded that Kaiser show that he was financially stable before he would consent to their marriage. Kaiser moved to Spokane and became a top salesman at a hardware company, returning ten months later with enough money to placate his future father-in-law. They married on April 8, 1907, and had two children, Edgar Kaiser, Sr and Henry Kaiser, Jr. In 1914 Kaiser founded a paving company, Henry J. Kaiser Co., Ltd., 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 in Camagüey Province, Cuba. In 1931 his firm was one of the prime contractors in building the

on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

, and subsequently the Bonneville and

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...

s on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. While doing business among the "

Six Companies, Inc. Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona. They later built Parker Dam, a portion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct ...

", and remotely related to his interest in motor boat racing, he set up shipyards in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and Tacoma, where he began using mass-production techniques, such as using

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...

instead of

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

World War II

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 entered

, 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.

Kaiser Shipbuilding

Kaiser fought Hitler far more directly with what he is most famous for: the Kaiser Shipyard in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

; during

adapting production techniques to enable building cargo ships with an average construction time of 45 days. These ships became known as

Liberty ships Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost constr ...

and were later supplemented in the mid-war period by improved, larger and faster Victory ships. He became world-renowned when his teams built a ship in four days. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

for the 10,500-ton was laid on Sunday, November 8, 1942, and the ship was launched in California from the Richmond Shipyard #2 on Thursday, November 12, four days and hours later. The previous record had been ten days for the Liberty ship ''Joseph M. Teal''. A visit to a Ford 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. Other Kaiser shipyards were located in Ryan Point (Vancouver) on the

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and on Swan Island in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. A smaller vessel was turned out in 71 hours and 40 minutes from the Vancouver yard on November 16, 1942. The Kaiser hulls also became America's smaller, more numerous "

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

s", over 100 small aircraft carriers employed in both the Pacific and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

theaters. The concepts that he developed for the mass production of commercial and naval ships are still in use. One problem with welded hulls that was unknown is the issue of brittle 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 Constance Tipper (born Constance Fligg Elam; 16 February 1894 – 14 December 1995) was an English metallurgist and crystallographer. She investigated brittle fracture and the ductile-brittle transition of metals used in the construction of war ...

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. By his membership in a group called the

Six Companies Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona. They later built Parker Dam, a portion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct ...

, Kaiser also had a major role in the

Joshua Hendy Iron Works The Joshua Hendy Iron Works was an American engineering company that existed from the 1850s to the late 1940s. It was at one time a world leader in mining technology and its equipment was used in the construction of the Panama Canal, amongst othe ...

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

, which built the EC-2 triple expansion steam engines for the Liberty ships. Kaiser and his associates organized the California Shipbuilding Corporation.

Kaiser Permanente

At Kaiser Shipyards in

, Kaiser implemented the pioneering idea of Dr. Sidney Garfield of

. Opened on August 10, 1942,

Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital The Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital was the first Kaiser Permanente Hospital and is a historic site resource of the city of Richmond, California, 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. 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. After the war, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers' families. To serve employees at his diverse businesses, Kaiser opened Permanente facilities in Walnut Creek, California, in Hawaii, in Southern California, and eventually in many other locations. Since then, locations have opened in

Dublin, California Dublin (formerly, Dougherty, Alameda County, California, Amador and Dougherty's Station) is a suburban city of the East Bay in California. It is located within the Amador Valley of Alameda County, California, Alameda County's Tri-Valley region. ...

;

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

; Pleasanton, California; Martinez, California;

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

; and Antioch, California. However, the Kaiser family itself has had no connection with Kaiser Permanente in decades.

Postwar

Kaiser Automobiles

1951 Henry J sedan green 2013 AACA-Lakeland-2

Kaiser-Frazer

In 1945, Kaiser partnered with veteran automobile executive Joseph Frazer to establish a new

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

company from the remnants of Graham-Paige, of which Frazer had been president. The new company was named Kaiser-Frazer. It used a surplus

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 ...

defense plant at

Willow Run Willow Run, also known as Air Force Plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in Michigan, United States, located between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville, built by the Ford Motor Company to manufacture aircraft, especially the B-24 Liberator heav ...

, Michigan originally built for WWII aircraft production by Ford. Kaiser-Frazer (later Kaiser Motors) produced cars under the Kaiser and Frazer names until 1955, when it abandoned the U.S. market and moved production to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. 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.

Henry J.

The

Henry J The Henry J is an American automobile built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Production of six-cylinder models began in their Willow Run factory in Michigan on July 1950, and four-cylinder productio ...

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.

Jeep and South America

In 1953, Kaiser purchased Willys-Overland, manufacturer of the

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

line of utility vehicles, changing its name to Willys Motors. In the late 1960s, Kaiser's South American operations were sold to a Ford-

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

combination. In 1963, the name was changed again to Kaiser-Jeep, which was ultimately sold to

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

in 1970. As part of the transaction, Kaiser acquired a 22% interest in AMC, which was later divested.

Private projects

In the mid-1950s, Kaiser asked William Besler to convert his 1953 Kaiser Manhattan to steam. Besler completed this in either 1957 or 1958. Kaiser did not like the remodeled car and left it with Besler.

Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser founded Kaiser 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. 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.

Kaiser Family Foundation

In 1948, Kaiser established the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (also known as

), a U.S.-based, nonprofit, private operating foundation focusing on health care issues. Originally based in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California, it later moved to Menlo 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. The Foundation, not associated with

or Kaiser Industries, operates independently as a think tank, making facts and analysis available to policymakers, health care groups, the media and the general public.

Real estate

As a real-estate magnate, Kaiser founded the

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

suburban community of Hawaii Kai in Hawaii. Kaiser also financed the development of Panorama City, a planned community in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

portion of Los Angeles. Schools were named in his honor in Hawaii, West Virginia, and California.

Hawaii Village Hotel

Kaiser spent many of his later years in

and developed an obsession with perfecting its urban landscape. He built the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, today known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and used bright pink Jeeps as resort transportation. Kaiser constructed one of the first commercially practical geodesic domes in the United States at this resort and used it as a theater.

Television

In the mid-1950s, Kaiser was convinced that television could make Kaiser brand products known to the public. In 1957 Kaiser partnered with Warner Brothers and ABC to sponsor the television series '' Maverick'', promoting household products including Kaiser aluminum foil and Kaiser Jeep vehicles. In support of his Hawaii ventures, Kaiser induced Warner Brothers to copy the formula of its popular series '' 77 Sunset Strip'' as new TV series ''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Con ...

''. Though actually filmed at WB studios in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, the show featured private detectives based at Kaiser's Hilton Hawaiian Village. (The Hilton Hawaiian Village was featured in '' Hawaii 5-0'' with many scenes filmed at the resort.) Kaiser eventually bought and built a chain of radio and television stations which became known as Kaiser Broadcasting. Some call signs included his initials "HK", beginning in 1957 in Honolulu with KHVH-TV 13 and KHVH AM 1040.

Personal life

Kaiser's first wife Bess Fosburgh died on March 14, 1951. Kaiser married the nurse who had cared for her, Alyce Chester (reportedly with his wife's blessing) on April 10, 1951. He adopted her son, who as Michael Kaiser, attended nearby Lafayette public Vallecito School. Kaiser's attention soon transferred to Hawaii, and in 1955 he moved his family there. After Kaiser moved to Hawaii, the west Lafayette Kaiser estate deteriorated and was eventually demolished. Today, the property is unrecognizable, subdivided into several homes.

Death

On August 24, 1967, Kaiser died at the age of 85 in

. He is interred in Mountain View Cemetery in the Main Mausoleum, in Oakland, California. He was survived by his second wife, Alyce Chester Kaiser, who inherited half his fortune, and by his elder son,

Edgar F. Kaiser Edgar Fosburgh Kaiser Sr. (July 29, 1908 – December 7, 1981) was an American industrialist, who was Chairman of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation, the Kaiser Cement Corporation and the Kaiser Steel Corporation. Edgar was born in Seattl ...

, who had been president of the Kaiser Industries Corporation since 1956. One of Kaiser's grandsons, Edgar Kaiser Jr., became president of Kaiser Steel from 1981 to 1984, and briefly owned the Denver Broncos

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

franchise. Another grandson, Henry, is an Antarctic diver and experimental guitarist.

Legacy

Kaiser was involved in building civic centers, roads, and schools. He was part of the consortium that constructed the

and

. Kaiser is also noted for advancing medicine with the development and construction of hospitals, medical centers and medical schools. The mining town of

Eagle Mountain, California Eagle Mountain, California, is a modern-day ghost town in the California desert in Riverside County founded in 1948 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. The town is located at the entrance of the now-defunct Eagle Mountain iron mine, once owned by th ...

, built as part of the West Coast's first integrated mining/processing operation, and linked by rail to his mill in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

, was an early user of

, the first health maintenance organization. A class of 18 United States Navy

fleet replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

s built in the 1980s and 1990s is named the . Its lead unit, , the first U.S. Navy ship named for Kaiser, entered service with the

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

on December 19, 1986. In 1990, Kaiser was made a member of the

Labor Hall of Fame The United States Department of Labor Hall of Honor is in the Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC. It is a monument to honor Americans who have made a positive contribution to how people in the United States work an ...

of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., supported by the Friends of the Department of Labor. On December 1, 2009, Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Kaiser posthumously into the

California Hall of Fame The California Hall of Fame honors individuals and families who embody California's innovative spirit and have made their mark on history. The hall and its exhibits are housed in The California Museum in Sacramento. The hall of fame was conceived ...

the California Museum The California Museum is the state history museum of California, located in its capital city of Sacramento. It is dedicated to Californian history and the stories of California. The museum is home to the California Hall of Fame and has more t ...

, Sacramento, California.

References

External links

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

History of Kaiser Aluminum
*
Henry J. Kaiser online image collection

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Henry J. 1882 births 1967 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople Philanthropists from New York (state) American shipbuilders American steel industry businesspeople Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) Businesspeople from New York (state) Businesspeople from Oakland, California People from Canajoharie, New York People in the automobile industry American construction businesspeople American people of German descent People from Montgomery County, New York Automotive businesspeople American industrialists