Jack Keville
National Plastics Museum
Inducted 1994
John (Jack) Keville (1911 – 2007) was born in Leominster, Massachusetts. As a young man, Jack operated saw machines cutting teeth in celluloid combs at various Leominster factories, and he later became an active participant in many phases of the plastics industry expansion.
Jack earned his bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University in 1933, and after a brief stint at the New York Herald Tribune, he returned to Leominster in 1938 and joined the Plastics Division of Celanese Corporation (known then as the Celluloid Corporation). He eventually became the assistant general sales manager at Celanese. In 1964, he joined Standard Pyroxoloid Company in Leominster. From 1964 to 1984, he also served the industry in various sales positions with the Brea Chemical Division of Union Oil, Ludlow Corporations Flexible Plastics Packaging Division, and the Polymer Chemicals Division of W. R. Grace Company.
Recognizing the growing need for educating the public, he “preached and promoted” greater awareness of the many beneficial uses of plastics in daily living. These efforts were highlighted by his radio talk show titled “Salute to the Plastics Industry.” In 1976, he and other members of the Pioneer Valley Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) began formulating his dream of a National Plastics Museum, which was eventually realized in 1992 with the opening of the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, where the lecture room was named in his honor. Although the NPC has now closed, its collection continues as part of the Plastics Center at the Syracuse University Library and can be viewed on their website.
Keville was a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and an associate member of The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI, now PLASTICS). He was the founding chairman of the Rigid Plastics Container Committee of the Packaging Institute, a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association, and served on the Board of the Plastics Academy.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic processing, Plastics management, and sales
Related Links:
Keville, John J. “The History of Plastics in Leominster,” Industry, 33:10 p. 15-16 (July 1968).