Horace Bushnell Cheney (May 19, 1868 – August 15, 1938) was an American administrator, who was general manager and vice-president of Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company,Lester Robert Bittel, Muriel Albers Bittel (1978), ''Encyclopedia of professional management .'' p. 456 in the nowadays called

Cheney Brothers Historic District The Cheney Brothers Historic District was a center of the silk industry in Manchester, Connecticut, in the late 19th and early 20th century. The district includes over 275 mill buildings, workers houses, churches, schools and Cheney family mans ...

. In 1934 he was awarded the

Henry Laurence Gantt Medal The Henry Laurence Gantt Medal was established in 1929 by the American Management Association and the Management section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for "distinguished achievement in management and service to the community" in h ...

by the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

for being the sponsor of

Henry Gantt Henry Laurence Gantt (; May 20, 1861 – November 23, 1919) was an American mechanical engineer and management consultant who is best known for his work in the development of scientific management. He created the Gantt chart in the 1910s. Gan ...

's pioneering work at Cheney Brothers Silk work.

Life and work

Born in

South Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 36,379 at the 202 ...

in 1868, Cheney was the son of Frank Woodbridge Cheney and Mary Bushnell, and grandson of

Ward Cheney Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. After attending St. Paul's School and

Hartford Public High School Hartford Public High School, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1638. It is the second-oldest public secondary school in the United States, after the Boston Latin School. It is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. Notable alumni ...

, he studied at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

obtaining his undergraduate degree in 1890. After graduation Cheney and his father made a tour de Europe, and on return he started as regular apprentice in the Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company at the broad goods department. In the next decennia he worked his way up from manager of the department to general manager of mill, and vice-president of Cheney. In 1909 he became director of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company for a short period. Beside his work at the Cheney Brothers, Cheney participated in various municipal and state affairs. In the state of Connecticut he participated in its first State Tuberculosis Commission, and in the Silk Association of America he chaired the committee on legislation. After his retirement he wrote some works about the history of the Cheney family and of the history of Manchester, and widened his interested in the art of woodcarving and painting. In August 1936 he died in Santa Fe Hospital, due to injuries from a car accident. The mansion One Cheney build for his family in the mid-1890s, the Horace B. Cheney House, is one of the remarkable historic buildings of Connecticut.

Work

PostcardManchesterCTCheneyBrothersMills1920

In 1934 Cheney was awarded the

by the ASME for being the sponsor of Henry Gantt's pioneering work at Cheney. The ''Mechanical Engineering Magazine,'' (1937) summarized his contributions as follows: :"Since 1931 Mr. Cheney has been general manager of the mill and vice-president of Cheney Brothers, South Manchester, Conn. He was the executive in charge of the installation at Cheney Brothers of methods of management represented by Mr. Gantt. Through Mr. Cheney's unfailing adherence to the principles laid down by Mr. Gantt, and his success in adapting these principles to changing conditions, the Gantt system achieved a conspicuous success at Cheney Brothers. His personal contributions have been in the field of fair job assignments, studies of interference, and watching time and quality standards." The cooperation between Cheney and Gantt dated back to the 1910s. Henry L. Gantt's connection with the firm of Cheney Brothers had started in the fall of 1912.Cheney (1920, 406)

Selected publications

* Horace Bushnell Cheney; Omer La Rue (Special Commission to Investigate Tuberculosis). ''Report of factory conditions in Connecticut as related to Tubercuflosis.'' Hartford onn.: Published by the State, 1908. * Garnet Warren & Horace Bushnell Cheney. ''The romance of design,'' Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926. * Horace Bushnell Cheney.
An Appreciation of Henry L. Gantt
" ''Industrial Management.'' Vol. 60, 1920. p. 406

References

External links

The Horace B. Cheney House (1895)

Cheney Family Papers

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, a ...

, Smith College {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Horace B. 1868 births 1936 deaths American businesspeople People from Manchester, Connecticut Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients Yale College alumni