Henry A. Strong

Henry A. Strong
Born
Henry Alvah Strong

(1838-08-30)August 30, 1838
Rochester, New York
DiedJuly 26, 1919(1919-07-26) (aged 80)
Rochester, New York
Occupation(s)Photography businessman, inventor
Spouses
Helen Phoebe Griffin
​
​
(m. 1859; died 1904)​
​
​
(m. 1905)​
Children
Signature

Henry Alvah Strong (August 30, 1838 – July 26, 1919) was an American photography businessman. He was the first president of the Eastman Kodak Company.[1][2][3]

Early life and family

Bas-relief in Strong Auditorium on the University of Rochester River Campus

Henry Strong was born on August 30, 1838, in Rochester, New York.[4] He graduated from Wyoming Academy in 1858. On August 30, 1859, he married Helen Phoebe Griffin. They had three children: Gertrude Achilles, Helen Carter, and Henry G. Strong. After Helen's death in 1904 from diabetes, he married Hattie (Corrin) Lockwood on June 14, 1905.[5] He adopted her son, Corrin, and the family returned to Rochester, New York.[6]

Business ventures

1887 Ad for Strong and Woodbury Lashes

Strong held a lead position in his family's buggy whip manufacturing company prior to meeting George Eastman in 1870. In 1881 he helped provide capital to Eastman to launch the Eastman Dry Plate Company which would later become Eastman Kodak Company.[2]

Strong died at his home in Rochester on July 26, 1919.[4]

Legacy

Numerous buildings in Rochester, notably Strong Memorial Hospital and Strong Auditorium at the University of Rochester were built from his philanthropy.

References

  1. ^ Jeffries, Elizabeth "The Strong Family of Rochester, New York", Epitaph: The Friends of the Mount Hope Cemetery, vol 27, No. 3 (2007)
  2. ^ a b Linsay, David. "Henry Strong". PBS.org. PBS. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Fitch, Charles E. (1916). Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preëminent in their own and many other states. The American historical society, inc. pp. 120–121 – via HathiTrust.
  4. ^ a b "Henry A. Strong, Long Business Associate of George Eastman, Dead in His Eighty-first Year". Democrat and Chronicle. July 27, 1919. p. 38. Retrieved May 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Mrs. Henry Alvah Strong Dies – Gave Buildings, Funds to Keuka College". Chronicle-Express. Penn Yan, New York. June 8, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved May 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "A Most Remarkable Collaboration". Augusta Magazine. February 1, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
Business positions
New office President of Eastman Kodak
1884 – July 26, 1919 		Vacant
Title next held by
George Eastman