What I've Learned

By Author: sadas
Total Articles: 105
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He was a high school dropout, judged "not especially gifted" when measured against the academic standards of the day. He was poor, but even as a young man, he took it upon1 himself to support his widowed mother and two sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped.
He began his business career as a 14-year old office boy in an insurance company and followed that with work as a clerk in a local bank.
He was George Eastman2, and his ability to overcome financial adversity, his gift for organization and management, and his lively and inventive mind made him a successful entrepreneur by his mid-twenties, and enabled him to direct his Eastman Kodak Company to the forefront of American industry.
Besides, Eastman is almost as well known for his philanthropy as he is for his pioneering work in photography. In this field, as in others, he put the direction of an enthusiastic amateur to work.
He began giving to nonprofit institutions when his salary was $60 a week— with a donation of $50 to the young and struggling Mechanics Institute of Rochester, now the Rochester Institute of Technology.
He was ...
... an admirer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because he had hired some of its graduates, who had become his best assistants. This admiration,after thorough study, was translated into a handsome gift to M. I. T.4, eventually reaching $20 million. It was given anonymously5 from a "Mr. Smith," and for several years the identity of mysterious "Mr. Smith" was speculated6 about, even finding expression in a popular M. I. T. song.
Dental7 clinics were also of great interest to Eastman. He devised complete plans and financial backing for a $2.5 million dental clinic for Rochester. He then started a large-scale, remedial dental program for children. Dental clinics were also given to London, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Stockholm.
When asked why he favored dental comics, he replied, "I get more results for my money than in any other philanthropic scheme. It is a medical fact that children can have a better chance in life with better looks, better health and more vigor if the teeth, nose, throat and mouth are taken proper care of at the crucial time of childhood. "
Eastman loved music and wanted others to enjoy the beauty and pleasure of music. He established and supported the Eastman School of Music, a theatre, and a symphony orchestra8. "It is fairly easy to employ skillful musicians. It is impossible to buy appreciation of music. Yet without a large body of people who get joy out of it, any attempt to develop musical resources of any city is doomed9 to failure," he said. So his plan had a practical formula for exposing the public to music—with the result that the people of Rochester have for decades supported their own philharmonic10 orchestra.
Interest in hospitals and dental clinics had grown with Eastman's work and study of the field. He promoted and brought to fruition a program to develop a medical school and hospital at the University of Rochester, which became as nationally prominent as the university's music school. Rochester is filled with Eastman landmarks that contribute11 to the enrichment of community life.
His sincere concern for the education of African Americans brought gifts to the Hampton and the Tuskegee Institutes. One day in 1924, Eastman signed away $30 million to the University of Rochester, M. I. T. , Hampton and Tuskegee. As he laid down the pen he said, " Now I feel better. "
Eastman often made the beneficiary12 match his gift in some way, so the institution would have the confidence of standing on its own. For him, great wealth brought the greater opportunity to serve.
Despite the fact that Eastman's name was synonymous with photography, he is reticent and shunned publicity13. He had fewer photographs taken of him than many other outstanding leaders of his time. That's why he could walk down the main street of Rochester without being recognized.
Eastman lived his philosophy, "What we do during our working hours deter-mines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are. " A tough competitor, hard-bitten and practical in business, he was gentle and congenial14 at home or in the field of outdoor enjoyment.
He was a modest, unassuming man... an inventor, a marketer, a global vi-sionary15, a philanthropist, and a champion of inclusion. Eastman died by his own hand16 on March 14, 1932 at the age of 77. Pelage by progressive disability resulting from a hardening of the cells in the lower spinal cord , Eastman became increasingly frustrated at his inability to maintain an active life, and set about putting his estate in order.
"Eastman was a stupendous factor in the education of the modern world," said an editorial in the New York Times following his death. "Of what he got in return for his great gifts to the human race he gave generously for their good; fostering music, endowing learning, supporting science in its researches and teaching, seeking to promote health and lessen human ills, helping the lowliest in their struggle toward the light, making his own city a center of the arts and glorifying his own country in the eyes of the world. "