Harvey S. Firestone | |
|---|---|
 Firestone c. 1910 | |
| Born | Harvey Samuel Firestone December 20, 1868 |
| Died | February 7, 1938 (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 7, incl. Harvey Jr. and Leonard |
Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.[1]
Firestone was born in 1868 in Columbiana, Ohio, and grew up on the farm built by his grandfather.[2] The family name was originally Feuerstein; Nicholas Feuerstein, Firestone's paternal ancestor, immigrated from Alsace in 1752 and settled in Pennsylvania.[3] He was the second of Benjamin and Catherine (née Flickinger) Firestone's three sons; Benjamin also had a son and a daughter by his first wife. In 1983 the original farm was disassembled and moved to Greenfield Village, a 90-acre (360,000 m2) historical site in Michigan founded by Henry Ford, and is now part of a larger outdoor museum.
On November 20, 1895, Firestone married Idabelle Smith.[4] They eventually had seven children. Notable great–grandchildren include: Andrew Firestone, Nick Firestone, and William Clay Ford, Jr. (the son of Henry Ford's grandson and Harvey and Idabelle's granddaughter Martha).
After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio before starting his own company in 1890, making rubber tires for carriages. In 1900 he soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles and then founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of tires. In 1926 he published a book, Men and Rubber: The Story of Business, which was written in collaboration with Samuel Crowther.[5]
Firestone died of coronary thrombosis at Harbel Villa, the beach front estate he acquired in Miami Beach, Florida. He was 69 years old.[1]
Firestone, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison were generally considered the three leaders in American industry at the time, and often worked and vacationed together,[6] calling themselves the Vagabonds,[7] along with naturalist John Burroughs and, sometimes, President Herbert Hoover.
The main library of Princeton University is named Firestone Library in his honor. It is among the largest university libraries in the world. On August 3, 1950, The Harvey S. Firestone Memorial, a large sculpture ensemble dedicated to Firestone, created by sculptors James Earle Fraser and Donald De Lue was dedicated at the old Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Headquarters at 1200 Firestone Parkway. It currently located at the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center in Akron, Ohio.
In 1974, Firestone was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio, is named in his honor. There is a Harvey S. Firestone Park in Columbiana, Ohio. The Links at Firestone Farms, a golf course in Columbiana, sits on the site of the former family homestead. The town of Harbel in Liberia, home to Firestone's rubber farm, the largest in the world, is named after Firestone and his wife Idabelle.
He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2013.[8]
