George Eastman
Eastman Kodak and Eastman Chemical Products
Inducted 1975
In 1880, George Eastman (1854 – 1932) founded the firm that later became Eastman Kodak and Eastman Chemical Products. He pioneered the development of emulsion-coated plastic film for use in box cameras and as motion-picture film. Eastman made photography accessible to the general public and thus an integral part of modern life. He was a talented inventor, a brilliant businessman, an innovative and progressive employer, and an extraordinary philanthropist.
Eastman was a self-made man born in Waterville, 20 miles southwest of Utica, New York. His family moved to Rochester when Eastman was five, and his father died soon after. Young George entered the workforce when he was fourteen. He created an industrial empire and a new corporate culture through hard work, careful planning, and ingenuity.
Early on, Eastman worked his way up in the insurance business. In 1879, he was hired as a junior clerk at the Rochester Savings Bank. He became interested in photography when he was 24, and his experience using the heavy and unwieldy photographic equipment of the day led him to become immersed in the challenge of making photography simpler and more affordable.
By 1880, he had invented a dry plate formula and had patented the machine for preparing large numbers of plates. He soon recognized the possibility of selling dry plates to other photographers and then found a way to use cellulose-based plastics to create a flexible film. This eventually led to the creation of transparent roll film, which Eastman could offer with great commercial success. Soon, his company was also manufacturing small, easy-to-use cameras for amateurs. His slogan was, “You press the button, and we do the rest.”
Eastman Kodak expanded to make and develop film and print photographs and manufacture cameras that used film and many other products. During World War I, Kodak suffered material shortages in photographic paper, optical glass, gelatin, and chemicals, including methanol, acetic acid, and acetone. To ensure a reliable source of materials, Eastman founded the Eastman Chemical Corporation in 1920 in Kingsport, Tennessee. With its two major platforms of organic chemicals and acetyls, the company became a leading chemical company and a major plastics producer.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic processing, Plastic materials, Business management