Hapgood - William Powers, age 88, died Saturday, July 30, after a tried illness, St. Francis Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind. Former President of the Columbia Conserve Company, father of the late Powers and brother of the late Norman and Hutchins Hapgood. Services private.
The New York Times -
New York, New York
Tuesday, August 2, 1960
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
W. P. Hapgood Dies;
Business Pioneer
By DONALD C. HERRING
A pioneering businessman whose dream of a company owned and managed by its employes was perhaps too far ahead of the times died last Saturday.
William P. Hapgood, who caught the fancy of a nation in 1930 when he turned over 51 per cent of stock in his company to its employes, was of a family used to making news.
HIS BROTHERS, Norman and Hutchins Hapgood, won fame as writers and editors. His son, Powers Hapgood, and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary Donovan Hapgood, made headlines as militant spokesmen for rights of the individual.
Yet, at his request, news of his death in St. Francis Hospital did not reach newspapers and only a handful of persons marked the passing of the 88-year-old former president of the old Columbia Conserve Company.
His dream of an employee owned and managed company was wiped out by a 1943 court order, and in 1953 the plant which turned out soups, chili and canned meat products at 1800 Churchman Avenue was sold to John Sexton & Co. of Chicago.
What he had attempted was far ahead of its time perhaps farther than even Hapgood realized, his daughter-in-law said yesterday.
But Mrs. Mary Hapgood did not assess her father-in-law's experiment as a failure entirely, for it showed the way for other progressive industrialists.
In an era not far removed from the infamous "sweat shop" days of American industry, Columbia Conserve workers enjoyed many of the so-called "fringe benefits" now in present-day labor contracts.
WORKERS PICKED their own board of directors. They could be fired only by their fellow employes. They were paid while ill and had medical, dental and optical care at company expense. A married man automatically drew a 50 per cent higher salary than a single man. William, who headed the company for 50 years, and his two brothers inherited the business in 1917. By 1925 they had worked out a plan calling for surplus profits to go to the workers to be used by them to purchase common itock in the company.
When William Hapgood turned over 51 per cent of the company stock, the Columbia firm had sales totaling more than $1,500,000 yearly.
By the early 1940s, however, the far-sighted plan was running into trouble. Seeking better pay schedules, the workers struck against themselves, since they were the majority stockholders.
A suit charging mismanagement was filed. Superior Court Judge Hezzie B. Pike found the company had not been mismanaged, but he issued an order dissolving the plan.
HAPGOOD, blinded by glaucoma, spent the rest of his life at Riverbrook Farm, the family's 620-acre farm on White River near Southport Road.
His son and daughter-in-law rocketed to fame in the 1920s for their outspoken defense of Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, whose conviction and execution for murder stirred a world-wide controversy which has survived four decades.
Powers Hapgood, a Harvard graduate who worked in mines around the world, and Miss Mary Donovan met in Boston during the sensational murder trial.
SHORTLY after their marriage both were jailed at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on charges of disturbing the peace and inciting a riot which later proved non-existent.
The arrest was designed to prevent a meeting arranged to protest "killing off miners," Mrs. Hapgood said.
After a week in jail, the Hapgoods were freed on a habeas corpus writ obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and the charges failed to stand up in court.
POWERS HAPGOOD, who died in 1949 after winning fame as a labor leader, and his wife, who now lives at Riverbrook Farm, continued to make news for years.
Later active in the Socialist Party, Mary Hapgood was nominated twice by the party for governor of Massachusetts and governor of Indiana. She was the first woman ever nominated for Indiana's top office.
WHEREVER he felt the individual's rights were being trampled, Powers Hapgood went there to champion his cause, his widow said.
Funeral services for her husband were held in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Hall here. A representative of CIO President Philip Murray read the miners' ritual.
The body of William Hapgood, who died after nearly a year's illness, was cremated. The ashes will be interred in Graceland Cemetery at Chicago, alongside the remains of his wife, Mrs. Eleanor Page Hapgood, who died five years ago.
Survivors besides the daughter-in-law include two grandchildren, Mrs. Bertha Donovan Monro, and a son, Donovan Hapgood, both of Marion County, and a great-granddaughter.
The Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis, Indiana
Friday, August 5, 1960, p. 9
∼
Indiana Death Certificate Data: #028596
Name: William Powers Hapgood
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 88 years, 6 months, 1 day
Marital status: Widowed
Birth Date: January 29, 1872
Birth Place: Ind
Death Date: July 30, 1960
Death Place: Beech Grove, Marion County, Indiana, USA
Cause of Death: Right Common Carotid Artery Thrombosis with Cerebral Infarction.; Arteriosclerosis
Father: Chas Hapgood
Mother: Fanny Hapgood
Informant: Mrs. Powers Hapgood
Burial: Cremation, buried in Indianapolis, Indiana
.
The New York Times -
New York, New York
Tuesday, August 2, 1960
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
W. P. Hapgood Dies;
Business Pioneer
By DONALD C. HERRING
A pioneering businessman whose dream of a company owned and managed by its employes was perhaps too far ahead of the times died last Saturday.
William P. Hapgood, who caught the fancy of a nation in 1930 when he turned over 51 per cent of stock in his company to its employes, was of a family used to making news.
HIS BROTHERS, Norman and Hutchins Hapgood, won fame as writers and editors. His son, Powers Hapgood, and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary Donovan Hapgood, made headlines as militant spokesmen for rights of the individual.
Yet, at his request, news of his death in St. Francis Hospital did not reach newspapers and only a handful of persons marked the passing of the 88-year-old former president of the old Columbia Conserve Company.
His dream of an employee owned and managed company was wiped out by a 1943 court order, and in 1953 the plant which turned out soups, chili and canned meat products at 1800 Churchman Avenue was sold to John Sexton & Co. of Chicago.
What he had attempted was far ahead of its time perhaps farther than even Hapgood realized, his daughter-in-law said yesterday.
But Mrs. Mary Hapgood did not assess her father-in-law's experiment as a failure entirely, for it showed the way for other progressive industrialists.
In an era not far removed from the infamous "sweat shop" days of American industry, Columbia Conserve workers enjoyed many of the so-called "fringe benefits" now in present-day labor contracts.
WORKERS PICKED their own board of directors. They could be fired only by their fellow employes. They were paid while ill and had medical, dental and optical care at company expense. A married man automatically drew a 50 per cent higher salary than a single man. William, who headed the company for 50 years, and his two brothers inherited the business in 1917. By 1925 they had worked out a plan calling for surplus profits to go to the workers to be used by them to purchase common itock in the company.
When William Hapgood turned over 51 per cent of the company stock, the Columbia firm had sales totaling more than $1,500,000 yearly.
By the early 1940s, however, the far-sighted plan was running into trouble. Seeking better pay schedules, the workers struck against themselves, since they were the majority stockholders.
A suit charging mismanagement was filed. Superior Court Judge Hezzie B. Pike found the company had not been mismanaged, but he issued an order dissolving the plan.
HAPGOOD, blinded by glaucoma, spent the rest of his life at Riverbrook Farm, the family's 620-acre farm on White River near Southport Road.
His son and daughter-in-law rocketed to fame in the 1920s for their outspoken defense of Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, whose conviction and execution for murder stirred a world-wide controversy which has survived four decades.
Powers Hapgood, a Harvard graduate who worked in mines around the world, and Miss Mary Donovan met in Boston during the sensational murder trial.
SHORTLY after their marriage both were jailed at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on charges of disturbing the peace and inciting a riot which later proved non-existent.
The arrest was designed to prevent a meeting arranged to protest "killing off miners," Mrs. Hapgood said.
After a week in jail, the Hapgoods were freed on a habeas corpus writ obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and the charges failed to stand up in court.
POWERS HAPGOOD, who died in 1949 after winning fame as a labor leader, and his wife, who now lives at Riverbrook Farm, continued to make news for years.
Later active in the Socialist Party, Mary Hapgood was nominated twice by the party for governor of Massachusetts and governor of Indiana. She was the first woman ever nominated for Indiana's top office.
WHEREVER he felt the individual's rights were being trampled, Powers Hapgood went there to champion his cause, his widow said.
Funeral services for her husband were held in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Hall here. A representative of CIO President Philip Murray read the miners' ritual.
The body of William Hapgood, who died after nearly a year's illness, was cremated. The ashes will be interred in Graceland Cemetery at Chicago, alongside the remains of his wife, Mrs. Eleanor Page Hapgood, who died five years ago.
Survivors besides the daughter-in-law include two grandchildren, Mrs. Bertha Donovan Monro, and a son, Donovan Hapgood, both of Marion County, and a great-granddaughter.
The Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis, Indiana
Friday, August 5, 1960, p. 9
∼
Indiana Death Certificate Data: #028596
Name: William Powers Hapgood
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 88 years, 6 months, 1 day
Marital status: Widowed
Birth Date: January 29, 1872
Birth Place: Ind
Death Date: July 30, 1960
Death Place: Beech Grove, Marion County, Indiana, USA
Cause of Death: Right Common Carotid Artery Thrombosis with Cerebral Infarction.; Arteriosclerosis
Father: Chas Hapgood
Mother: Fanny Hapgood
Informant: Mrs. Powers Hapgood
Burial: Cremation, buried in Indianapolis, Indiana
.
Hapgood - William Powers, age 88, died Saturday, July 30, after a tried illness, St. Francis Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind. Former President of the Columbia Conserve Company, father of the late Powers and brother of the late Norman and Hutchins Hapgood. Services private.
The New York Times -
New York, New York
Tuesday, August 2, 1960
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
W. P. Hapgood Dies;
Business Pioneer
By DONALD C. HERRING
A pioneering businessman whose dream of a company owned and managed by its employes was perhaps too far ahead of the times died last Saturday.
William P. Hapgood, who caught the fancy of a nation in 1930 when he turned over 51 per cent of stock in his company to its employes, was of a family used to making news.
HIS BROTHERS, Norman and Hutchins Hapgood, won fame as writers and editors. His son, Powers Hapgood, and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary Donovan Hapgood, made headlines as militant spokesmen for rights of the individual.
Yet, at his request, news of his death in St. Francis Hospital did not reach newspapers and only a handful of persons marked the passing of the 88-year-old former president of the old Columbia Conserve Company.
His dream of an employee owned and managed company was wiped out by a 1943 court order, and in 1953 the plant which turned out soups, chili and canned meat products at 1800 Churchman Avenue was sold to John Sexton & Co. of Chicago.
What he had attempted was far ahead of its time perhaps farther than even Hapgood realized, his daughter-in-law said yesterday.
But Mrs. Mary Hapgood did not assess her father-in-law's experiment as a failure entirely, for it showed the way for other progressive industrialists.
In an era not far removed from the infamous "sweat shop" days of American industry, Columbia Conserve workers enjoyed many of the so-called "fringe benefits" now in present-day labor contracts.
WORKERS PICKED their own board of directors. They could be fired only by their fellow employes. They were paid while ill and had medical, dental and optical care at company expense. A married man automatically drew a 50 per cent higher salary than a single man. William, who headed the company for 50 years, and his two brothers inherited the business in 1917. By 1925 they had worked out a plan calling for surplus profits to go to the workers to be used by them to purchase common itock in the company.
When William Hapgood turned over 51 per cent of the company stock, the Columbia firm had sales totaling more than $1,500,000 yearly.
By the early 1940s, however, the far-sighted plan was running into trouble. Seeking better pay schedules, the workers struck against themselves, since they were the majority stockholders.
A suit charging mismanagement was filed. Superior Court Judge Hezzie B. Pike found the company had not been mismanaged, but he issued an order dissolving the plan.
HAPGOOD, blinded by glaucoma, spent the rest of his life at Riverbrook Farm, the family's 620-acre farm on White River near Southport Road.
His son and daughter-in-law rocketed to fame in the 1920s for their outspoken defense of Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, whose conviction and execution for murder stirred a world-wide controversy which has survived four decades.
Powers Hapgood, a Harvard graduate who worked in mines around the world, and Miss Mary Donovan met in Boston during the sensational murder trial.
SHORTLY after their marriage both were jailed at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on charges of disturbing the peace and inciting a riot which later proved non-existent.
The arrest was designed to prevent a meeting arranged to protest "killing off miners," Mrs. Hapgood said.
After a week in jail, the Hapgoods were freed on a habeas corpus writ obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and the charges failed to stand up in court.
POWERS HAPGOOD, who died in 1949 after winning fame as a labor leader, and his wife, who now lives at Riverbrook Farm, continued to make news for years.
Later active in the Socialist Party, Mary Hapgood was nominated twice by the party for governor of Massachusetts and governor of Indiana. She was the first woman ever nominated for Indiana's top office.
WHEREVER he felt the individual's rights were being trampled, Powers Hapgood went there to champion his cause, his widow said.
Funeral services for her husband were held in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Hall here. A representative of CIO President Philip Murray read the miners' ritual.
The body of William Hapgood, who died after nearly a year's illness, was cremated. The ashes will be interred in Graceland Cemetery at Chicago, alongside the remains of his wife, Mrs. Eleanor Page Hapgood, who died five years ago.
Survivors besides the daughter-in-law include two grandchildren, Mrs. Bertha Donovan Monro, and a son, Donovan Hapgood, both of Marion County, and a great-granddaughter.
The Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis, Indiana
Friday, August 5, 1960, p. 9
∼
Indiana Death Certificate Data: #028596
Name: William Powers Hapgood
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 88 years, 6 months, 1 day
Marital status: Widowed
Birth Date: January 29, 1872
Birth Place: Ind
Death Date: July 30, 1960
Death Place: Beech Grove, Marion County, Indiana, USA
Cause of Death: Right Common Carotid Artery Thrombosis with Cerebral Infarction.; Arteriosclerosis
Father: Chas Hapgood
Mother: Fanny Hapgood
Informant: Mrs. Powers Hapgood
Burial: Cremation, buried in Indianapolis, Indiana
.
The New York Times -
New York, New York
Tuesday, August 2, 1960
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
W. P. Hapgood Dies;
Business Pioneer
By DONALD C. HERRING
A pioneering businessman whose dream of a company owned and managed by its employes was perhaps too far ahead of the times died last Saturday.
William P. Hapgood, who caught the fancy of a nation in 1930 when he turned over 51 per cent of stock in his company to its employes, was of a family used to making news.
HIS BROTHERS, Norman and Hutchins Hapgood, won fame as writers and editors. His son, Powers Hapgood, and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary Donovan Hapgood, made headlines as militant spokesmen for rights of the individual.
Yet, at his request, news of his death in St. Francis Hospital did not reach newspapers and only a handful of persons marked the passing of the 88-year-old former president of the old Columbia Conserve Company.
His dream of an employee owned and managed company was wiped out by a 1943 court order, and in 1953 the plant which turned out soups, chili and canned meat products at 1800 Churchman Avenue was sold to John Sexton & Co. of Chicago.
What he had attempted was far ahead of its time perhaps farther than even Hapgood realized, his daughter-in-law said yesterday.
But Mrs. Mary Hapgood did not assess her father-in-law's experiment as a failure entirely, for it showed the way for other progressive industrialists.
In an era not far removed from the infamous "sweat shop" days of American industry, Columbia Conserve workers enjoyed many of the so-called "fringe benefits" now in present-day labor contracts.
WORKERS PICKED their own board of directors. They could be fired only by their fellow employes. They were paid while ill and had medical, dental and optical care at company expense. A married man automatically drew a 50 per cent higher salary than a single man. William, who headed the company for 50 years, and his two brothers inherited the business in 1917. By 1925 they had worked out a plan calling for surplus profits to go to the workers to be used by them to purchase common itock in the company.
When William Hapgood turned over 51 per cent of the company stock, the Columbia firm had sales totaling more than $1,500,000 yearly.
By the early 1940s, however, the far-sighted plan was running into trouble. Seeking better pay schedules, the workers struck against themselves, since they were the majority stockholders.
A suit charging mismanagement was filed. Superior Court Judge Hezzie B. Pike found the company had not been mismanaged, but he issued an order dissolving the plan.
HAPGOOD, blinded by glaucoma, spent the rest of his life at Riverbrook Farm, the family's 620-acre farm on White River near Southport Road.
His son and daughter-in-law rocketed to fame in the 1920s for their outspoken defense of Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, whose conviction and execution for murder stirred a world-wide controversy which has survived four decades.
Powers Hapgood, a Harvard graduate who worked in mines around the world, and Miss Mary Donovan met in Boston during the sensational murder trial.
SHORTLY after their marriage both were jailed at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on charges of disturbing the peace and inciting a riot which later proved non-existent.
The arrest was designed to prevent a meeting arranged to protest "killing off miners," Mrs. Hapgood said.
After a week in jail, the Hapgoods were freed on a habeas corpus writ obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and the charges failed to stand up in court.
POWERS HAPGOOD, who died in 1949 after winning fame as a labor leader, and his wife, who now lives at Riverbrook Farm, continued to make news for years.
Later active in the Socialist Party, Mary Hapgood was nominated twice by the party for governor of Massachusetts and governor of Indiana. She was the first woman ever nominated for Indiana's top office.
WHEREVER he felt the individual's rights were being trampled, Powers Hapgood went there to champion his cause, his widow said.
Funeral services for her husband were held in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Hall here. A representative of CIO President Philip Murray read the miners' ritual.
The body of William Hapgood, who died after nearly a year's illness, was cremated. The ashes will be interred in Graceland Cemetery at Chicago, alongside the remains of his wife, Mrs. Eleanor Page Hapgood, who died five years ago.
Survivors besides the daughter-in-law include two grandchildren, Mrs. Bertha Donovan Monro, and a son, Donovan Hapgood, both of Marion County, and a great-granddaughter.
The Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis, Indiana
Friday, August 5, 1960, p. 9
∼
Indiana Death Certificate Data: #028596
Name: William Powers Hapgood
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 88 years, 6 months, 1 day
Marital status: Widowed
Birth Date: January 29, 1872
Birth Place: Ind
Death Date: July 30, 1960
Death Place: Beech Grove, Marion County, Indiana, USA
Cause of Death: Right Common Carotid Artery Thrombosis with Cerebral Infarction.; Arteriosclerosis
Father: Chas Hapgood
Mother: Fanny Hapgood
Informant: Mrs. Powers Hapgood
Burial: Cremation, buried in Indianapolis, Indiana
.
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