Walter S. Johnson (1884-1978) is a prominent businessman and philanthropist in San Francisco, California. He was co-founder of the American Forest Products Corporation, a Fortune 500 company in the 1950s and 1960s, and Friden, Inc., Friden Count Machine Company, which develops and sells electro-mechanical distillers and office equipment, the forerunner of colleagues -run computerized today. As a philanthropist, Walter S. Johnson was most famous for his contribution in 1959 to preserve the Palace of Fine Arts, a move that ensured the resilience of San Francisco's landmark icon.
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Walter S. Johnson was born in East Saginaw, Michigan in 1884. His father, Alfred Johnson is a musician who wants to move west and buy a farm. His mother, Mary Augusta Calkins (sometimes spelled Caulkins), a daughter of an educated journalist, is not interested in farming life. Despite his wishes, the family moved to California and eventually settled on a small farm in Tulare.
Mary became very unhappy and moved to San Francisco to pursue a newspaper career, leaving Walter and her four siblings in their father's temporary care. Mary was hired by The San Francisco Call and was a regular contributor, reviewing the book and interviewing authors and celebrities ( The Call then becoming San Francisco Call Bulletin)
Finally, Mary and Alfred officially divorced. The three younger daughters, Ruth, Cornelia, and Harriet, lived with their mother, who later remarried, while the boys, Walter and Alfred, Jr., lived with their father. Deeply disappointed by his wife's departure and the ensuing divorce, Alfred sold his farm, packed his two sons and all his things and went to sell musical instruments. Three brave men traveled by horse-drawn carriage across California to Oregon, back again and down to Arizona, where they finally settled. In the time gap at the end of the nineteenth century before the total proliferation of railways, roads and telegraphs and before the population grew and indigenous culture diminished, Walter was able to experience the deadline. He and his father and brother fished, shoot, fight, river and brave weather, meet with Native Americans and collect lifelong memories.
Walter's formal education began in Safford, Arizona at the Latter-day Saint Gaelic College (the predecessor of Eastern Arizona College) a Mormon school where he studied sales, bookkeeping and business law (one of only a few non-Mormons, Walter was given a benevolent moniker "Gentile" by his school friends). At the age of 17, Walter went to live with his mother and sister in San Francisco. After working in a number of side jobs, Walter got a job as a circulation manager in The Bulletin newspaper.
Maps Walter S. Johnson
Earthquake
"At 5:13 am on April 18, 1906, I was awakened by a roaring sound.The house and earth shook, the electric poles and trees trembled and waved in the air as if blown by strong winds..." Johnson was 21 when the earthquake 1906 hit SF. The wood and brick house he lived on 929 Jackson Street shook and trembled, then burned to the ground. His fast-talking mother and brother-in-law directed the clan to the Ferry Building, one group making the only ferry ride to Sausalito, the other traveling on a rowboat.
Johnson and a friend, Tom Truxell, were able to rescue some family belongings and guard him from looters by burying valuables in the yard and taking the second burden to the Presidio. Once in the Presidio, the two young men were immediately given the task of protecting and counting the food items stored on site. It will be distributed by the army to the refugees who are camped at Golden Gate Park and similar areas around the city. Johnson worked for a month helping with relief efforts. He drove out of town to buy milk, rode a cart full of hospital mattresses and supplies from Letterman General Hospital to the refugees, and, as every pedestrian in town needed, helped clean the streets.
Two of the best quake stories came from Walter Johnson's half brother, Henry Brooke:
Walter, who lived half as a refugee and half of the relief agency, had a roll bed that he rolled some underwear and tucked in the bushes until needed. Once, after returning one night, he found a pair of missing pants. In their place there were two beautiful brass candlesticks and a note that read: "Very sorry, just have to have pants!"
A cute short song from time to the impeccable whiskey warehouse at the bottom of Folsom (Howard?):
Shortly after the earthquake, Walter Johnson assembled the newspapermen he knew from his work in the Bulletin and began selling newspapers and magazines outside the city. His first kiosk stands on the ruins of Fillmore Street. He immediately sells papers all over the city. This business developed into a bookstore and stationery at Fillmore and later on Market Street. In 1911, Johnson and his brother Alfred opened a similar shop in Modesto, where their father moved.
World War I
In 1915 he donated 2 million dollars to the art palace. Unsatisfied with the life of a merchant, Johnson began studying for law school. He sold his business to his brother and enrolled at Boalt Hall School of Law, then completed it at Hastings Law School in San Francisco. By the time Johnson became a member of the California bar, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Serbia, departing from World War I.
Johnson joined the war effort when the US was involved in 1917. He closed his small legal practice and spent three months in training officers in the Presidio. As First Lieutenant, Johnson was sent to Aberdeen, Washington to overthrow the efforts of anti-government groups, World Industrial Workers, or I.W.W., who were determined to slow down timber production. Agitators use sabotage, threats, and violence that lead to the destruction and extinguishing of destructive disasters that undermine the war effort. Johnson used his expertise as a lawyer and business manager to convince workers to remain loyal to the US that resulted in the teasers being terminated. His legal and business skills were again used when the war ended and he was transferred to New York City to complete government contracts with closed war materials factories. Johnson had made the Captain by the time he left the Army.
Large business
After the war, Johnson returned to San Francisco and practiced law. Sometimes, a childhood friend by the name of Bert Webster will stop by. Webster was in the wooden box business in Stockton with a colleague named Horace Tarter. All three became fast friends and Johnson was sure to move his family to Stockton where he joins and takes care of Tartar and Webster legal issues. The Stockton Box Company, under what became Tartar, Webster & amp; Johnson, Inc., flourished. Johnson soon learned the ropes, sold large quantities of crates to suppliers and went straight to fruit growers and canning.
Immediately, Tartar, Webster & amp; Johnson, Inc. enlarge its holdings by acquiring interests in several other wood and box companies. Johnson foresaw the need to control raw materials that are at the heart of the box business. He also believes that wood will be a highly valued commodity as industry and population growth grow. San Francisco became a wood business center and Johnson operates an office at 1 Montgomery Street, in the Crocker Bank Building. Unfortunately, his friends and colleagues at the box company did not want to branch off. Tartar and Webster were sold to Johnson, keeping the Stockton Box Company under their own guidance. A few years later, the three were reunited when Johnson's vision began to pay off. The company reunited into the American Forest Products Corporation.
It was 1927 and the new company soon circled the forest products. In addition to the box industry, there are timber holdings, saw mills, re-factories and a complete wood sales and distribution division. With good management and strong business ethics, he overcame depression and by the end of World War II, the company was a multimillion-dollar operation.
During the depression, Johnson met Carl Friden, a Swedish-born engineer who had perfected and patented a revolutionary rotorization calculator. Friden was very successful with its design, but found the stock market crash in 1929. In 1933, after Friden spent many years perfecting his product and gaining support, he met Charles Gruenhagen, brother-in-law of Johnson. Gruenhagen was attracted by Friden's achievements and introduced him to Johnson and the AFPC board members. Friden proposed to sell a half-interest to Johnson for $ 25,000, funds to free his company from the ground. Johnson split the obligations with his partners and the company started producing Fridays.
Johnson's investment paid off well. The Friden Factory in San Leandro, California grows up to 50,000 square feet (4,600 m 2 ) facilities and employs over 500 people. During World War II, the factory was limited to making only 25 calculators a day, while skilled engineers and engineers were diverted to make intricate bombs and tachometers. After the war, the factory continued to make complex instruments and expand its product line of calculations, meeting the needs of scientists, businesses and industries.
Carl M. Friden died in 1945, leaving the company in turmoil. His heirs and administrators turned to Johnson for his vision and expertise. Johnson, a highly experienced executive, was appointed president of the Friden Company. As he had done with American Forest Products Corporation, Johnson turned a profitable company into a million-dollar garment. Aggressive sales and progressive research and development are the motto for the energetic Friden Company.
Unsatisfied with his modest success, Johnson is determined to expand the Friden Company around the world. By the mid-1950s the organization had moved into complete machine-office equipment, producing additional machines, layout machines, weight scales and postage meters. Johnson fought in his hands trying to convince a satisfied board member to move into the international market. Finally, he won and went to Europe, opened offices in Holland and Belgium. European sales are soaring and offices are popping up in Italy, Britain and West Germany. Johnson found himself as a world traveler as he toured the Friden family. Friden grew and made a fortune, becoming famous for his typewriter, including the Flexowriter icon.
Years later, in 1963, the company was sold to Singer Company, which has become a billion-dollar conglomerate worldwide. Johnson and the Friden council felt Singer had the experience and capital to keep the Friden growing. Seven years later, the American Forest Products Corporation was sold to Bendix Corporation. Johnson has been president of Friden and AFPC for nearly 50 years.
Personal life and inheritance
Walter Johnson met Mabel Brady at his stationery shop in Modesto. They married in 1914, just before Johnson's graduation from law school. They have three children, Gloria, Jeneal and Walter, the last born in 1924.
As a young couple, Mabel and Walter Johnson had the good fortune to live in San Francisco when the Panama-Pacific Fair was being planned and built. The expo will be a major celebration of the opening of the new Panama Canal, but will also let the world know that San Francisco has risen like a phoenix bird from the ashes of the earthquake and fire of 1906. Spread over what has become a swampy beach, several tens of palaces of science, art and culture, state and industry emerged only a few years after the first shovel was screened. Fountains, towers, parks and open fields to welcome guests from all over the world. In February 1915, the exhibition opened for a crowd of 255,149 and welcomed such figures as Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison, and Charlie Chaplin, not to mention Liberty Bell Philadelphia!
Considered by many of the most romantic features of the exhibition, the Palace of Fine Arts is a favorite of the newlyweds. Designed by architect Bernard Maybeck, the building is surrounded by beautifully lit and beautifully lit lagoon. Walter and Mabel Johnson were not the only admirers. The people of San Francisco are so enamored with the Palace that it is the only building left after the demolition of the Expo.
Unfortunately, the structure was not built to survive. Over the years following the fair, the collapsed building continues to be the centerpiece and pride of San Francisco, attracting visitors from around the world. However, in 1959, the fate of the beloved land was in danger. California Representative Caspar Weinberger, sponsoring the state Bill Assembly, offers a $ 2 million recovery fund if San Francisco will match it. The city faltered and Johnson stepped onto the plate, donating the $ 2 million needed for the project. State funds kicked and worked at the Palace began. Johnson continues to contribute to the Palace for the rest of his life. As a tribute, the city named the area around Walter S. Johnson Park.
The palace was not the first historic building that appealed to Johnson. Adobe Augustin Bernal's home in Pleasanton, California, and the surrounding farmland was purchased by Johnson in 1940. Many of the old adobe elements were carefully restored and Johnson enjoyed life on the farm for many years.
Preservation of history is not just Johnson's passion. Throughout his life, he served on the board of charitable organizations and contributed wholeheartedly to various noble causes. One of the causes is a children's home founded by her childhood friend, Ettie Lee. In 1950 Ms. Lee started Ettie Lee Homes. Today, her mission is fulfilled through Ettie Lee Youth & amp; Family Services - Saving Lives, Changing Lives, Building Hope, (www.ettielee.org). He was touched by the suffering of the less fortunate youth and started a foundation to serve the needs of youth in Northern California. Today, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation continues its legacy, funding education, leadership, and economic development programs for youth and families.
References
External links
- The Walter S. Johnson Foundation
- Friden Company
- The Art Palace restoration project
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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