Guide to the Thomas E. Wilson Family Collection Circa 1850-2005
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University of Chicago Library Guide to the Thomas E. Wilson Family Collection circa 1850-2005 © 2018 University of Chicago Library Table of Contents Acknowledgments 3 Descriptive Summary 3 Information on Use 3 Access 3 Citation 3 Biographical Note 3 Scope Note 7 Related Resources 9 Subject Headings 9 INVENTORY 10 Series I: Thomas Edward Wilson Papers 10 Series II: Elizabeth Foss Wilson Papers 15 Series III: Helen Wilson Williams Papers 17 Series IV: Edward Foss Wilson Papers 17 Series V: Pauline Wyman Wilson Papers 25 Series VI: Wilson Family Papers 31 Series VII: Wilson & Co. Records 34 Series VIII: Wilson Sporting Goods Records 37 Descriptive Summary Identifier ICU.SPCL.WILSONTE Title Wilson, Thomas E. Family. Collection Date circa 1850-2005 Size 33.5 linear feet (37 boxes) Repository Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. Abstract The Wilson family was a prominent Chicago business family in the early half of the 20th century. Wilson & Co. meatpacking business was founded by Thomas Edward Wilson and evolved over the years to include the manufacture of sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, and industry chemicals. The majority of the collection contains biographical information, personal ephemera, correspondence, and photographs belonging to two generations of the Wilson family. The collection also includes a small amount of company records for Wilson & Co. and its subsidiary, Wilson Sporting Goods. Materials date between circa 1850 and 2005, with the bulk of the material dating between 1900 and 1950. Acknowledgments The Thomas E. Wilson Family Collection was processed and preserved with generous support from the Wilson family. Information on Use Access This collection is open for research. Citation When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Wilson, Thomas E. Family. Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. Biographical Note Wilson & Co. History 3 Wilson & Co. evolved over the years to adapt to a changing market and changing leadership. The business began in 1916 when founder Thomas Edward Wilson took control of the failing Chicago meat packinghouse, Sulzberger & Sons Co., and rebranded it as Wilson & Co. By 1917, the company ranked as one of the 50 largest industrial corporations in the United States, and continued to employ thousands of workers at its plant in Chicago until the 1950s. Wilson & Co. was acquired by Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. in 1967, and its headquarters were transferred from Chicago, Illinois to Dallas, Texas. LTV reorganized the company into four divisions: Wilson Sinclair Company, Wilson Certified Foods, Inc., Wilson Beef & Lamb Company, and Wilson Laurel Farms, Inc. Wilson Foods was acquired by Doskocil Companies, Inc. in 1988. Wilson Sporting Goods History Wilson & Co. held several subsidiaries that utilized animal by-products for the manufacture of sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, and industry chemicals. Ashland Manufacturing - a subsidiary of Sulzberger & Sons Co. established in 1913 - manufactured athletic gear under the Thomas E. Wilson brand and became Wilson Sporting Goods in 1931. Wilson Sporting Goods was acquired by PepsiCo in 1970, and then sold to Amer Group (later Amer Sports Oyi) of Finland in 1989. A Chinese investor group led by Anta Sports Products acquired a majority stake in Amer Sports Oyj in 2018. Wilson Family History Thomas Edward Wilson was born on July 22, 1868 in London, Ontario, Canada to Moses Wilson and Mary Ann Higgins. He was one of eight children. The family immigrated to the United States when Thomas was nine years old, settling in Chicago. Following high school, Thomas went to work as a clerk for Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway. In 1887 he took a job with meat packinghouse Morris & Company, and was promoted to Vice-President of the company in 1906 and then President in 1913. During this time, he married Elizabeth Lavinia Foss, and together they had two children, Helen Elizabeth Wilson (b. 1900), and Edward Foss Wilson (b. 1905). On March 22, 1916, Thomas was named President of the meat packing firm Sulzberger & Sons Co. Banks forced a change of management of Sulzberger & Sons after a shipment of meat was intercepted by a British blockade. The company was subsequently accused of German sympathies. The company was renamed Wilson & Co. on July 21, 1916. Thomas Edward 4 Wilson became Chairman of the Board of Wilson & Co. on February 27, 1934, after naming his son as President. Thomas Edward Wilson held numerous industry leadership roles throughout his lifetime. He helped organize the American Meat Institute, and served as its President in 1919. He later provided funding in 1923 to establish laboratory facilities for the Institute on the campus of the University of Chicago. He served on the Board of Directors of the International Livestock Exposition, the Oklahoma National Stock Yards, the St. Louis National Stock Yards, the Livestock National Bank of Chicago, the Chicago River and Indiana Railway, the Illinois Central Railroad, the Sherwin-Williams Company, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., the First National Bank of Chicago, the Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the United States Chamber of Commerce. He chaired the National Livestock and Meat Board from 1935 to 1939. Additionally, Thomas Edward Wilson helped found the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work (now the National 4-H Service Committee), and served as its chairman from 1924 to 1958. Thomas Edward Wilson was the recipient of several service awards including The Silver Buffalo from the Boy Scouts of America in 1939, the Rosenberger Medal from the University of Chicago in 1940, the Chicago Merit Award, National from the Rotary Club of Chicago in 1945, an honorary LL.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1945, the Medal for Merit from President Harry Truman in 1946 for his work to organize the nation's fat salvage campaign following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and an honorary LL.D. from Coe College in 1951. On Edellyn Farms in Lake County, Illinois Thomas Edward Wilson bred Shorthorn Cattle, which earned him numerous prizes at livestock shows throughout the country. He also owned a ranch in Cuchillo, New Mexico, farms in Earlham, Iowa and Nevada, Iowa, and a residence in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. Thomas Edward Wilson died on August 4, 1958. Elizabeth Lavinia Foss Wilson was born on May 23, 1873 in Illinois to Agnes Elizabeth McLean Foss and Martin Henry Foss, a grain-broker for the Chicago Board of Trade. She completed two years of high school. She met Thomas Edward Wilson at a supper at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. They married on November 1, 1899, and together had two children. Elizabeth was a homemaker and active in women's clubs. She frequently entertained guests and invited lecturers to Edellyn Farms. Elizabeth Foss Wilson died on October 29, 1967. Helen Elizabeth Wilson Williams was born on October 8, 1900 in Illinois to Thomas Edward Wilson and Elizabeth Foss Wilson. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1921. Helen married Harry Julius Williams (1895-1992) - at that time an assistant provision manager for 5 Wilson & Co. - on June 27, 1925. Together, they had four daughters: Karen E. (b. 1927), Gwain R. (b. 1929), Lynn H. (b. 1934), and Noel Ann (b. 1932). Helen Wilson Williams died on March 11, 1995. Edward Foss Wilson was born on January 6, 1905 in Illinois to Thomas Edward Wilson and Elizabeth Foss Wilson. He attended Lawrenceville School in New Jersey from 1921 to 1922, and graduated from Princeton University in 1926. Following a year of travel, Edward entered the family business in 1927. In 1934 he was named President of Wilson & Co., becoming Chairman of the Board in 1953. He married Pauline Dorthea Wyman on June 2, 1940, and they had two sons: Edward Thomas Wilson and Kendall Wyman Wilson. In 1957, Edward Foss Wilson was appointed Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He served in this post until 1961. Edward Foss Wilson was active on the boards of the American Red Cross, the Boy Scouts of America, the YMCA, the Washington Heart Association, and the National Presbyterian Church. He served on the Advisory Boards of the Johns Hopkins University School of International Studies and the National Development Council for Johns Hopkins Medicine. He was a Trustee of Rush Presbyterian- St. Luke's Hospital (now Rush University Medical Center), President of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society, and Vice-President of the United Nations Association, Capital Area Division. Following Pauline Wyman Wilson's death in 1985, Edward married Frances Wilmer in 1988. Edward Foss Wilson died of cancer on March 19, 1994. Pauline Dorthea Wyman Wilson was born on September 10, 1905 in Minnesota to Paul Wyman and Lillian Kennedy Wyman. Paul Wyman died a few months before Pauline's birth, and Pauline and her brother Donald were raised by Lillian in Pennsylvania. Pauline graduated from William Penn High School for Girls, Philadelphia in 1924, and Vassar College in 1928 where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She believed strongly in women's education. Following her graduation from Vassar, Pauline Wyman Wilson worked as a substitute teacher in the Philadelphia School District for one year. She then pursued graduate studies at the University 6 of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Chicago. She earned a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 1929, with a thesis titled "Experimental Studies on the Compound: Cysteine Mercuric Sulfate." Pauline co- authored the article "Mercury Derivatives of Cysteine," published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1930. Pauline Wyman Wilson was Assistant Professor of Biology and Chemistry at Western Maryland College until 1936, then joined Northwestern University's personnel administration where she presided over the women's division of counselors.