Born May 9, 1882

Sprout Brook, New York

Died August 24, 1967

Honolulu, Hawaii

Industrialist

"In the summer of 1942, Henry J. Kaiser burst like a comet across the national sky. His West Coast shipyards had performed production miracles during the dark days of America's first six months in World War II."
—From Mr. Kaiser Goes to Washington: The Rise of a Government Entrepreneur
Henry Kaiser. The Library of Congress.

Henry Kaiser's imprint on American industry was remarkable. He has been called the "father of modern shipbuilding" and was considered the most powerful businessman in the U.S. West during World War II (1939–45). The concrete he manufactured went to build Pacific military bases, his aluminum into new advanced warplanes, his steel into warships, and the thousands of cargo ships he built carried troops and supplies across the oceans to the European and Pacific war fronts. The electricity generated by...