Background

George Eastman was born on July 12, 1854, in Waterville, New York, the United States. His father, George Washington Eastman, ran a business college in Rochester, New York. It required him to split his time between Rochester and Waterville. Consequently, young George was left in the care of his mother most of the time.

The family did not settle in Rochester until 1860. Two years later, Eastman's father died, and his mother, Maria Kilbourn Eastman had to pay the family's bills. Thereafter, Maria Eastman supported George and his two sisters, Ellen Maria and Katie, by renting rooms in their house to boarders. Katie was afflicted with polio at a very young age and was confined to a wheelchair. She died in 1870 leaving her family distraught.

Education

George was educated at Rochester public schools but dropped out at age thirteen to work and help his mother. However, he continued his education privately.

Career

At the age of 15 or 16, Eastman left school to take up the job of an office boy in an insurance company. In 1877, he became a bookkeeper at Rochester Saving Bank. His flair for numbers and details carried over to his private life; Eastman kept a careful record of all his expenses and worked hard to save money. Although the job of the bookkeeper solved his financial problems to some extent, George Eastman strived for more. He soon decided to take up the real estate and by 1877 he had saved enough money to take the first step.

He planned a trip to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. A co-worker suggested he take photos of the trip, and soon after Eastman bought his first camera. George Eastman paid a little more than $94 for his first camera and photographic equipment. Most of his knowledge about his new hobby came from reading photography magazines. At the time, photography was still a fairly recent development, and taking pictures was not easy. Photographers had to cover glass slides with a solution of silver and other chemicals; more chemicals were used to develop the image. This work had to be done in the dark, so photographers taking pictures outdoors had to bring along tents.

Very soon Eastman became an avid photographer. In those days, taking photos was a cumbersome affair. Cameras were big and the wet plate technology used those days was also very clumsy. Neither was the dry plate technology that was just being evolved very conveniently. He resigned from his bank job after launching his fledgling photography company in April 1880. In 1880 he perfected a process of making dry plates for photography and organized the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company for their manufacture.

Eastman next thought of replacing the glass plate with paper. He had it coated with gelatin and other photographic chemicals. The film so made was then rolled on spools. Next, he replaced the paper with a transparent film. He had both these products patented in 1884. In 1885, he headed to the patent office with a roll-holder device that he and the camera inventor William Hall Walker had developed. This allowed cameras to be smaller and cheaper.

Eastman also came up with the name Kodak, because he believed products should have their own identity, free from association with anything else. So in 1888, he launched the first Kodak camera (a few years later, he amended the company name to Eastman Kodak). In 1888, Eastman created a simple camera, which was easy to carry and to use. It cost just $25 and came with 100 exposure roll of films. In the beginning, the photographers were required to send back the camera along with ten dollars once the roll was finished. The company would wash the roll and send the photographs back to their clients. "You Press the Button, We Do the Rest" became their slogan.

In 1889 Eastman introduced roll film on a transparent base, which has remained the standard for film. In 1892 he reorganized the business as the Eastman Kodak Company. Eight years later he introduced the Brownie camera, which was intended for use by children and sold for one dollar.

In 1903, the company began to manufacture non-curling film. Earlier, films had the tendency to curl and it created problems, especially while processing. Non-curling films marketed by Kodak helped to solve these problems to a large extent. When World War I started in 1914, Kodak Laboratories, under the guidance of George Eastman, joined the war effort. Thanks to their contribution, the United States could build up its own chemical industry and become independent of German supply. He also developed unbreakable glass lenses for gas masks for the use of military and special cameras for taking pictures from the planes.

By 1927 Eastman Kodak had a virtual monopoly of the photographic industry in the United States, and it has continued to be one of the largest American companies in its field. Eastman spent much of his later career embroiled in legal disputes related to his monopolistic activities and his alleged use of other inventors' ideas without proper acknowledgment. Although no longer a monopoly, Eastman Kodak retained its leadership in the photographic industry throughout the twentieth century. The company kept on growing even after his death. By 1976, it commanded 75% of the camera sales and 90% of the roll sales in the United States.

Achievements

• 

  George Eastman took a passion for photography and turned it into a new industry, producing easy-to-use film and cameras for people around the world. Eastman revolutionized aspects of our world with his promotion of the simple camera. Invention and manufacture of roll film and the Kodak camera are the two major works for which George Eastman is remembered even today. These inventions enabled common people to take up photography as a hobby. His home in Rochester, now known as George Eastman House, has become a renowned archive and museum of international photography as well as a popular tourist site.
  
  George Eastman has been represented by two stars in the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his invention of roll film. In recognition of his support and substantial donations, the Rochester Institute of Technology has a campus dedicated to him and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a plaque installed on one of the buildings he funded. The University of Mississippi also has an auditorium named after him.
  
  Eastman’s legacy lives on and he will always be remembered and appreciated for his contribution to widespread commercial and personal photography. His net worth at the time of his death was $95 million.

Views

Eastman did not spend his photographic fortunes just on himself. Eastman was a great philanthropist and gave away huge chunks of his fortune to needy and deserving people. As early as 1886, he made a significant contribution to a Rochester technical college, and his generosity grew as Kodak did. Although Eastman once claimed he did not believe in higher education, he made large donations to the Mechanics Institute of Rochester (later called the Rochester Institute of Technology) and the University of Rochester. Including the money he left in his will, Eastman's total donations to the University of Rochester totaled $50 million. Using the name "Mr. Smith," Eastman gave $20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over many years. He also donated to several colleges for African Americans.

Eastman's philanthropy spread to the arts and social services as well. His donations to the University of Rochester helped build the Eastman School of Music and a medical school. He set up a program in his hometown to provide dental care to needy children, then duplicated the program in several European cities. During the 1920s, Eastman was listed as the fifth-largest individual donor in the United States, and by his death, he had given away about $100 million.

Quotations: "You press the button, we do the rest."

"Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography."

"What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are."

Personality

Eastman grew into young adulthood as a shy, short, trim, and precise kind of person. He saw himself as a businessman very early in life. He kept daily detailed accounts of his income and expenses and carefully saved his money. He immersed himself in business matters and remained a bachelor throughout his life.

At his factory, he was a tireless worker, but he also found time to travel and enjoy a social life. Eastman hosted and attended lavish parties, and his trips took him around the world. At first, he would leave the company for only a few weeks at a time, but by the 1920s, Eastman's typical vacation lasted six months. The telegraph, and later, the telephone, let him stay in touch with Rochester when important issues arose.

He was an enthusiastic art collector on his long trips to Europe and a music lover. It is believed that he enjoyed his life, and he gave countless millions the opportunity to enjoy theirs with lasting memories captured on film.

Physical Characteristics: George Eastman suffered from some kind of spine disorder, which was not only painful but was slowly making him disabled. Eastman noticed progressive immobility, the result of a degenerative condition that involved a hardening of the cells in the lower spinal cord. He also suffered from severe diabetes. So on March 14, 1932, at age 77, he took his own life with a single gunshot to the heart. A note he left said, "My work is done. Why wait?"

Interests

• photography, art, music

• Sport & Clubs

  cycling

Connections

Eastman was never married and did not have any family of his own. He was, however, very close to his sister’s family and had a platonic relationship with Josephine Dickman, the wife of his business associate George Dickman.

Father:

George Washington Eastman

Mother:

Maria Kilbourn Eastman

George was very close to his mother Maria Eastman, who had brought him up almost single-handedly. When Maria died in1907, George was inconsolable and could not stop crying. Kilbourn Theater, located within Eastman Theatre in Rochester, has been dedicated to her memory.

Sister:

Ellen Maria Eastman Andrus

Sister:

Emma Kate Eastman

Friend:

Josephine Dickman

Josephine and George shared common interests. Both were music lovers - she was a trained singer and he a dedicated listener - who complemented each other well. Both were dedicated philanthropists as well, and gradually they began to give to the same charities.

Partner:

George Dickman

Friend:

Thomas Edison

Eastman formed a friendship with Thomas Edison and they assisted each other with inventions.

References

• George Eastman: A Biography
  1995
• George Eastman and the Kodak Camera