Gary, Elbert Henry

Gary, Elbert Henry

(1846–1927) lawyer, financier; born near Wheaton, Ill. In 1871 he joined his brother's Chicago law firm, Gary, Cody & Gary, and prospered while specializing in corporate law. He served two terms as county magistrate (1882–90), and was thereafter always known as "Judge" Gary. He was president of the Chicago Bar Association (1893–94). In 1898 he went to New York City to become president of the Federal Steel Company. In 1901, at the request of J. P. Morgan, he helped organize the United States Steel Corporation; he became chairman of its board in 1903 and led the corporation in various capacities until 1927. Although he was generally fair in dealing with his employees, and some of his policies were fairly progressive for the time—he abolished the 12-hour, seven-day work week in U.S. Steel plants—he was adamantly against organized labor unions and his opposition provoked the major steel strike of 1919. The company town U.S. Steel built around its Indiana plant was named after him.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.