Businessman philanthropist music and art patron
Zellerbach was born on March 25, 1894 in San Francisco, California, the second son of Isadore Zellerbach and Jennie Baruh. He was the grandson of Anthony Zellerbach, founder of the firm that later became the Crown Zellerbach Corporation. Harold Zellerbach and his family were major figures in the economic and cultural development of the city of San Francisco.
Zellerbach attended the University of California at Berkeley for two years (1913-1915) and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received a B. S. in economics in 1917.
Zellerbach followed his older brother, James David, into the family firm and was immediately appointed personnel manager. This would establish the pattern of leadership at Zellerbach Paper - James David followed by Harold Lionel - until the elder brother's death of a brain tumor in 1963. Over the next ten years Isadore Zellerbach and his two sons led the firm into a major period of expansion. By the mid-1920's Zellerbach Paper was the major distributor of paper products in the West and had moved into manufacturing. In 1924 the Zellerbach Corporation was formed as a holding company to operate the paper company and other subsidiaries. In 1928 the company merged with the Crown Willamette Paper Company, at that time the second largest paper manufacturing firm in the country. Louis Bloch of Crown Willamette became chairman of the board of the merged companies, whose name became the Crown Zellerbach Corporation. Harold was appointed vice-president of the parent corporation and president of Zellerbach Paper Company, thus assuming direct responsibility for the management of the original firm. In 1938, James David Zellerbach moved up to the presidency of Crown Zellerbach and Harold Lionel Zellerbach was named executive vice-president to succeed him. He held this position for almost twenty years, until 1956. From 1928 to 1959 he served as a director of Crown Zellerbach, and in 1957 followed his brother as chairman of the board. In 1959, upon reaching mandatory retirement age, he relinquished an active role in the management of the company. He thereafter held the honorary post of consulting director and continued to take a vigorous interest in the affairs of Crown Zellerbach until his death. His son, William Joseph Zellerbach, succeeded him as president of the Zellerbach Paper Company in 1961. By the time Harold Zellerbach retired from active management in 1959, Crown Zellerbach had become one of the world's largest producers of forest-related products, including pulp and paper products, lumber, plywood, and chemicals. The company was an acknowledged leader in forest management and had long been recognized for enlightened personnel policies and practices. The growth and continuing success of this company are directly attributable to the talent and energy of Harold Zellerbach, working in tandem with his brother. Harold Zellerbach's career in business was matched by his lifelong interest in the arts and public service. He worked continuously to promote the development of the arts in all forms in San Francisco. His active participation in promoting the arts in his home city was backed up by a major financial commitment. Harold Zellerbach and his family contributed heavily to support and develop the arts community. He headed the Zellerbach Family Fund and was instrumental in arranging a $1 million gift to the University of California at Berkeley to support the construction of a campus theater. The Harold and Doris Zellerbach Fund provided $1 million to underwrite the construction of a performing arts building in San Francisco, and the same fund provided $500, 000 for a similar purpose at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. In 1973 he was a founding member of the Foundation for the Arts and Humanities, a private foundation to promote the arts and humanities on a national level. Zellerbach was politically active and regularly supported candidates on the national level. During World War II, Zellerbach served on the War Production Board, and in the 1950's he was chairman of the Zellerbach Commission on European Refugees. This commission, established in 1957 and supported by private funds, was organized to address the "hard-core" refugee problem that remained from World War II. A commission report in 1959 estimated that approximately 40, 000 refugees remained in camps in Europe, with an additional 100, 000 refugees from behind the "Iron Curtain. " The Zellerbach report recommended that the United States take in 50, 000 of these refugees within the next two years. He died while aboard a cruise ship in Honolulu harbor.
Though he maintained ties with both political parties, Zellerbach himself was a liberal. He supported such politicians as Jacob Javits, the liberal Republican senator from New York, and Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956. In 1956, Stevenson appointed Zellerbach to the fifty-member National Business Council, made up of business and financial leaders who supported Stevenson in the campaign of that year.
Zellerbach served as a board member for the San Francisco Associated Council of Arts, the San Francisco Symphony, the Art Institute, the Ballet Guild, the Opera Association, and the San Francisco Performing Arts Center. He was also a trustee of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
A successful businessman, an avid supporter of the arts, and a man of wide-ranging public interests, Zellerbach was energetic and active to the very end.
Zellerbach married Doris Joseph on April 19m 1917; the couple had three children and their marriage continued for sixty-one years.
