Harvey S. Firestone

Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. (1868-1938) was an American industrialist who founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio in 1900. Born in Columbiana, Ohio, Firestone built his company into one of the first large scale makers of pneumatic tires for automobiles, supplying Henry Ford's early Model T production and helping make mass produced tires a practical necessity as automobile ownership spread across the United States. He pursued rubber supply for his factories through large plantation operations in Liberia, a venture that remains a debated part of his legacy. Firestone was a close friend and frequent camping companion of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, and his company remained one of the dominant American tire makers for decades after his death.