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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 upon himself to support his 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 Eastman, and in the century following his founding of a new photographic dry plate business, that firm became the world renowned Eastman Kodak Company. Today, it ranks as a premier multinational corporation and one of the 25 largest companies in the United States.
Eastman's ability to overcome financial adversity, his gift for organization and management, and his lively and inventive mind - all led him through the difficult teens and into successful entrepreneurship by his mid-twenties.
These same qualities enabled Eastman to direct Kodak to the forefront of American industry. Along the way, he pioneered in the establishment of a profit sharing system for employees, as well as retirement, disability and insurance benefits.
On the pages that follow, you'll learn more of George Eastman's remarkable accomplishments and a chronology of the company that today is bringing new dimensions to his legacy.
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