Josiah Kirby "Joe" Lilly Jr. (September 25, 1893 – May 5, 1966) was a businessman and industrialist who served as president (1948 –53) and chairman of the board (1953–66) of Eli Lilly and Company, the

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

firm his grandfather, Colonel

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and ...

, founded in Indianapolis in 1876. Lilly, the younger son and namesake of

Josiah K. Lilly Sr. Josiah Kirby Lilly Sr. (November 18, 1861 – February 8, 1948), nicknamed "J. K.," was an American businessman, pharmaceutical industrialist, and philanthropist who became president and chairman of the board of Eli Lilly and Company, the pharm ...

, graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

School of Pharmacy The basic requirement for pharmacists A pharmacist, also known as a chemist ( Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distribute ...

in 1914 where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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 ...

. At Eli Lilly and Company, where his primary focus was marketing and human resources, he served as vice president of marketing, executive vice president of the company, and president of Eli Lilly International Corporation, before succeeded his older brother, Eli Jr., as company president in 1948 and as chairman of the board in 1953. During Lilly's five decades with the firm, it grew into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana. Lilly helped improve the company's business processes to increase its efficiency, laid the groundwork for its personnel guidelines, and formed its sales research department. He was the last Lilly family member to serve as company president. Lilly was also a philanthropist, as well as a collector. In 1937 Joe, his brother, and their father, founded the

Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. (J. K.) Lilly Sr. and his s ...

, which remains as one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. Lilly was also known for his significant collection of rare books and manuscripts, which he donated to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

to form the core collection of the

Lilly Library The Lilly Library, located on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is an important rare book and manuscript library in the United States. At its dedication on October 3, 1960, the library contained a collection of 20,000 boo ...

, located on the IU campus in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

Oldfields Oldfields, also known as Lilly House and Gardens, is a historic estate and house museum at Newfields in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The estate, an example of the American country house movement of the late nineteenth and early twentie ...

, Lilly's estate home and grounds in Indianapolis, are part of the present-day Newfields. The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

acquired Lilly's gold coin collection.

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Heritage Museums and Gardens Heritage Museums and Gardens (100 acres), formerly the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, is located at 67 Grove Street, Sandwich, Massachusetts. The public garden, with its nationally significant collection of rhododendrons hybridized by Charles De ...

was established in his honor in

Sandwich, Massachusetts Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is ''Post tot Naufracia Portus'', "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census. History Cape Cod ...

, and holds some of Lilly's other collections.

Early life and education

Josiah Kirby Lilly Jr., known as "Joe" among friends and family, was the younger son of

and Lilly (née Ridgley) Lilly. He was born at the family's home on North Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, on September 25, 1893. His only sibling, Eli Jr., was eight years older. Joe's mother suffered from

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

and died in 1934; his father died in 1948. Lilly was the grandson of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, who founded Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturing business in Indianapolis in 1876. Joe's father was superintendent of the Lilly laboratory at the time of Joe's birth and succeeded Colonel Lilly as president of the company in 1898. Joe and Eli followed their father into the family business. Each son served as company president and chairman of the board, but Joe was the last family member to serve as its president. Lilly attended the

Holderness School , established = 1879 , type = Private high school , locale = , religion = Episcopal , image = , grades =9-12, PG , head_name = Headmaster , head = R. Phillip Peck , city = Holderness , state = New Hampshire , country = USA , student ...

Plymouth, New Hampshire Plymouth is a rural town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. It has a unique role as the economic, medical, commercial, and cultural center for the predominantly rural Plymouth, NH Labor Market Area. P ...

, and graduated from

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in 1912.Madison, p. 37. He continued his education with a two-year course at the

's School of Pharmacy, which he completed in 1914, before returning to Indianapolis to join the family business.

Marriage and family

Joe married Ruth Marie Brinkmeyer of Indianapolis on October 15, 1914. The couple had two children,

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

(1915–2009) and Josiah (Joe) III (1916–1995). Lilly's daughter became a philanthropist. His son joined the family business in 1939 and became superintendent of its Kentucky Avenue plant after serving in the military 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 opposing ...

; however, he resigned from the company in 1948 and did not succeed his father as president. In 1954, after briefly serving as secretary of the Lilly Endowment, Josiah III resigned and moved to New England.Madison, pp. 118–19. In December 1932 Lilly purchased

, a French chateau-style home with landscaped gardens, from Hugh McKennan Landon, an Indianapolis businessman. Lewis Ketcham Davis designed the home, which was built circa 1909–13; Percival Gallagher, an associate of the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

, designed its gardens. Lilly and his wife, Ruth, maintained the home as their primary residence. Oldfields and its landscaped grounds were donated to the Art Association of Indianapolis in 1967 and became a part the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...

. In 1934 Lilly began acquiring additional land along Eagle Creek in Marion County's Pike Township, northwest of downtown Indianapolis, to create Eagle Crest, a private retreat on of land. The secluded property included an operating farm and timberland, as well as a nature preserve. In 1936 Lilly moved his collection of rare books and manuscripts from his home to the library he had built on the property, which also included a lodge. Lilly donated the property to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

in 1958. The Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation acquired Eagle Crest from the university in 1966 to establish

Eagle Creek Park Eagle Creek Park is the largest park in Indianapolis, and one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. It is located at 7840 W. 56th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana and covers approximately of water and of land. There are about of ...

and Nature Preserve. In 1955 Lilly acquired the Indianapolis home of Lyman S. Ayres II, the grandson of

Lyman S. Ayres Lyman Skinner Ayres I (September 4, 1824 – May 7, 1896) was the founder of L. S. Ayres and Company, a regional department store chain whose flagship store and headquarters were located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The L. S. Ayres and Company na ...

, who founded the L. S. Ayres and Company department stores. Ayres had the Colonial-style home on Kessler Boulevard, West Drive, built in 1941. The Lilly family purchase adjoining property to expand the estate, known as Twin Oaks, to . Lilly's daughter, Ruth, lived there until her death in 2009, and it remains privately owned. He also maintained a summer home, called Red Oaks, at Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Career

Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly joined Eli Lilly and Company in November 1914 and became head of its newly formed Efficiency Division in 1916. He was responsible for the company's employee relations, payroll, and methods and standards departments. Following his enlistment in the

during

, when he served in

as an officer in the medical supply service, Lilly returned to the family business in Indianapolis, where he spent the remainder of his career. In the late 1920s Lilly and his brother, Eli, established a Planning Department and developed improvements to the company's hiring procedures, employee bonus incentives, working conditions, and efficiency efforts. While Eli served as president of the company from 1932 to 1948, Joe's main interests were sales and marketing. During this period the company's growth was significant: "sales increased from $13 million to $115 million, and the number of employees grew from 1,675 to 6,912." As part of a company reorganization in 1944, Joe became executive vice president, while continuing to maintain responsibilities for the company's marketing effort, including the sales research, marketing, and distribution functions. The company's increasing size, the complexity of its business, and the resignation of Joe's son, Josiah III, in 1946, caused the company to consider a gradual leadership transition that would separate the company's ownership from its day-to-day management. Prior to his elevation to company president in 1948, Joe was president of Eli Lilly International Corporation. He remained at the helm until 1953 when Eugene Beesley succeeded him to become the first non-family member to serve as the company's president. Lilly was chairman of the board from 1953 until his death in 1966.Madison, p. 249.

Later years

Following his retirement as company president in 1953, Lilly devoted most of his time to various hobbies.Bodenhamer and Barrows, eds., p. 912. He was known for his philanthropic activities, as well as his collections of rare books and manuscripts, gold coins, antique weaponry, stamps, works of art, and military miniatures.

Philanthropy and collections

Lilly Endowment

In 1937 Lilly, his father, J. K., and his older brother, Eli, founded the Indianapolis-based

Inc. Over the years Joe donated a total of $6 million in Eli Lilly and Company stock to the endowment and Eli contributed stock valued at $2.8 million; however, their father made the largest stock contribution, a total of $86.8 million. As the company's stock value increased, the Lilly Endowment became one of the largest private foundations in the United States. In addition to its other projects the

funded some of Joe's special interests, such as ''Bibliography of American Literature'', which published its first volume in 1955, and grants to the

at IU Bloomington.

Rare book and manuscript collection

Lilly was a prolific rare book collector and a member of the

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...

. He acquired a

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

of the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, a

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the " Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed ...

, a double-elephant folio of John James Audubon's '' Birds of America'', the first printing of the American Declaration of Independence (the

Dunlap Broadside The physical history of the United States Declaration of Independence spans from its original drafting in 1776 into the discovery of historical documents in modern time. This includes a number of drafts, handwritten copies, and published broadsid ...

), and a first edition of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's ''

Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

''. He also acquired ninety-four titles on the "Grolier Hundred," a list of one hundred volumes that have been identified as important in the history of printed books. Lilly owned "thousands" of first editions of significant books of literature, history, and science. His collection was especially strong in American and British literary classics, as well as the history of science and medicine and Americana. The manuscript collections ranged from

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

's " Auld Lang Syne" to the original manuscript of James M. Barrie's ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

''."J.K. Lilly Jr." in See also: Silver, ''J.K. Lilly Jr., Bibliophile'', pp. 33–35. On November 26, 1954, in a letter written to

Herman B Wells Herman B Wells (June 7, 1902 – March 18, 2000), a native of Boone County, Indiana, was the eleventh president of Indiana University Bloomington and its first university chancellor. He was pivotal in the transformation of Indiana Universit ...

, president of

, Lilly described his intention to donate his entire general collection of sixty-nine titles to the university. IU announced the donation, which the ''New York Times'' estimated its worth at $5 million, on January 8, 1956. Lilly eventually donated to IU more than 20,000 books and 17,000 manuscripts, in addition to more than fifty oil paintings and 300 prints. The collection is housed in the

building on IU's main campus in

.Capshew, p. 248.

Lilly Library

In the late 1950s, Lilly provided the funding for construction of a new special collections library on the IU Bloomington campus. The Lilly Library, which is named in honor of the family, was dedicated on October 3, 1960. It houses the university's rare book and manuscript collections.

Death and legacy

Lilly died at

, his home in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, on May 5, 1966. He is buried at

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high point ...

in Indianapolis. Lilly's children, Ruth and Josiah III, were philanthropists like their father. His daughter donated an estimated $800 million during her lifetime to numerous charitable organizations and non-profit institutions, most of them in Indiana and in Indianapolis. His son contributed money to community projects in the

area. He also founded the

, in his father's honor. Eli (Ted) Lilly II, Josiah III's son and Joe Jr.'s grandson, maintains a low profile in the Indianapolis area. Lilly's main contributions during his fifty-year career at Eli Lilly and Company included helping to improve its business processes and increase efficiency, establishing the groundwork for its personnel guidelines, and forming a sales research department. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine, it ranked as the 243rd largest public company in the world in 2016, with sales of $20 billion and a market value of $86 billion (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

). As of 2014 the Lilly Endowment, which he founded with his father and brother, ranked fifth on a list of the largest charitable foundations in total assets ($9.96 billion) and ranked twenty-first in total giving ($333.6 million). Lilly's children donated Oldfields, the family's home and gardens, to the Arts Association of Indianapolis in 1967. The residence and its grounds are part of the present-day Indianapolis Museum of Art. The Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation acquired Lilly's Eagle Crest property from Purdue University in 1966 and established Eagle Creek Park and Nature Preserve, "the largest city-owned and -operated park and recreation area in the United States." Lilly's rare book and manuscript collections became the core collections of the Lilly Library, a special collections library at IU Bloomington that is named in the family's honor. The

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

acquired Lilly's gold coin collection. His military miniatures are part of the collections of Cape Cod's Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts; his nautical models are at

Mystic Seaport Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the cra ...

, in

Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...

.Silver, "J.K. Lilly Jr., Bibliophile," p. 7.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * "J. K. Lilly Jr." in * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Eli Lilly and Company
official website
Lilly Endowment, Inc.
official website
"Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection, Photographs, May 1966, Collection Guide"
at the

Indiana Historical Society The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) is one of the United States' oldest and largest historical societies and describes itself as "Indiana's Storyteller". It is housed in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center at 450 West Ohio Street ...

, Indianapolis
Photo of Lilly's former home on Washington Blvd, Indianapolis
at the Indiana Historical Society * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilly, Josiah K. Jr. 1893 births 1966 deaths University of Michigan College of Pharmacy alumni Businesspeople from Indianapolis Presidents of Eli Lilly and Company American people of Swedish descent Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery Lilly Library 20th-century American businesspeople Indiana Republicans The Hill School alumni 20th-century American philanthropists