Hiram Halle
Encyclopedia
Hiram J. Halle was an American businessman, inventor, and philanthropist. He was also part owner of Gulf Oil
company. Halle was dedicated to Jewish causes during World War II
.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio
, he dropped out of high school to work in his family business—a dry goods store. Hiram Halle was a shy, homely man considered to be a workaholic. He ran his a personal WPA between 1936 and 1939, bringing European Jewish exiles to Pound Ridge to work on refurbishing vintage houses in the area.
Hiram Halle also invented a new way to hang and secure clothing garments with a hook and eye, increasing the ease and safety of garment hanging. Continuing his inventive streak, Halle developed a new kind of multi-perforated bill statement sheet with many separating areas to tear off statements.
, the University in Exile was dedicated to rescuing scholars who had lost their positions under Hitler during that time. Johnson sought $120,000 to finance 15 scholars over a two-year period at salaries of $4,000 per year. Halle was "captivated" by Johnson's idea and pledged the entire sum, requesting that he remain anonymous. With the grant from Halle, Johnson actively recruited members of the German intellectual and activist community. In 1934, the organization took the name Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Other notable donations from refugee aid organizations included The Rockefeller Foundation
and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars.
Between 1933 and 1945, the New School helped hundreds of European scholars and artists, including Mario Einaudi
, Claude Lévi-Strauss
, Wilhelm Reich
, and Gaetano Salvemini
, in the social sciences and history, and Herbert Berghof
, Fritz Eichenberg
, Erwin Piscator
, and George Szell
in the arts.
There is a Hiram J. Halle Fellowship that is awarded annually at the New School. It is given to doctoral candidates who have demonstrated "outstanding merit" and are considered candidates of "special competence and originality" by New School faculty.
hired him to manage the newly created Universal Oil Products company, which had as its main asset the Dubbs patents for cracking oil
. Halle was elected president of UOP in 1919, the year C. P. Dubbs perfected a continuous-circulation process that proved superior to the original patent and to any other method of refining oil. Halle chose to license the Dubbs process to all refiners rather than enter the refining business in competition with them. This decision became the business formula under which UOP still operates. Halle remained in charge of UOP until his death in 1944 at age 76.
, part of wealthy Westchester County, New York
located about an hour outside of New York City. He arrived in 1928 at the age of 61 at a time when the farming community was in economic decline. Halle bought 33 homes over the next decade and worked on improving these homes, 13 of which are now on the National Register of Historic Places. He also purchased a former farm on Trinity Pass Road, moved some barns to the property, and used them to store his vast collection of English and American antiques. Halle created a workshop on his property where his team of 60 laborers worked, and also paid locals to rebuild the stone walls and perform other repairs in town. With unemployment rampant during The Great Depression, Halle, the largest landowner, was also the largest employer in town. There is some controversy over whether his changes to these homes are considered restorations to reflect "colonial revivalism" or straight out renovations. Today, town historians say his changes were drastic and call his changes to these homes as "hallecized".
Halle was also dedicated to the development of his adopted hometown, Pound Ridge, New York
. Between 1936-39 he brought Jewish exiles to Pound Ridge to restore classic homes. This work played a key role in revitalizing the town. His philanthropy also extended to the town's farmers left struggling through the Depression. His purchases of family homesteads afforded the families enough money to leave town or allow those who stayed to remain on Halle's payroll.
Halle also boasted a private collection of historically important books and documents, including the original edition of Richard Carmarden's" A Caveat for the Quene"(1570). Additionally, Halle owned a now famous collection of Georgian furniture, paintings, works by Epstein, and many other important pieces of artwork.
Well-known actors and entertainers have flocked to Pound Ridge, New York
and made it their homes, because of its small town quality, privacy, and easy commute to Manhattan. Some famous residents, past and present, include: Susan Sarandon
, Tim Robbins
, Christopher Reeve
, Eartha Kitt
, Ellen Barkin
, Benny Goodman
, Richard Gere
, Mike Myers
, Jessica Tandy
, Jane Pauley
, and many others.
The Pound Ridge Historic District
was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1985.
, is named for him, the Hiram Halle Memorial Library. Its original building was an old schoolhouse sold to the town by the Halle Family Trust.
The Hiram Halle Library opened in 1952 and today has a collection of over 60,000 items including books, magazines, CDs, talking- book cassettes and videos. The Library's collection is particularly strong in the arts, biographies, mysteries and cookbooks. In addition, the Library offers an electronic database and Internet access for reference and research. Through the Interlibrary Loan Program, books not owned by the Library can be provided quickly and efficiently via Westlynx, the computerized card catalog of Westchester's 38 public libraries and other data bases.
The Library also offers activities such as The Adult Learning Center, arts and craft exhibits, films, concerts, lectures and book-discussion programs year round. The Library also sponsors a wide range of children's activities including Winter and Spring vacation programs, story hours, holiday activities, arts and crafts workshops, and the annual Summer Reading Program.
The Pound Ridge Library Foundation announced the launching of a $2.9 million Capital Campaign that would serve to expanding and repairing the old library. The campaign is estimated to take up to five years and will use tax deductible contributions.
Cleveland-born actress Halle Berry was named for Halle's family Cleveland department store.
Click here for a look at a period photo of this library
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
company. Halle was dedicated to Jewish causes during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, he dropped out of high school to work in his family business—a dry goods store. Hiram Halle was a shy, homely man considered to be a workaholic. He ran his a personal WPA between 1936 and 1939, bringing European Jewish exiles to Pound Ridge to work on refurbishing vintage houses in the area.
Inventions
Hiram Halle was the owner of numerous patents in many different industries. He invented a process for refining hydrocarbons in the production of marketable gasoline and hydrocarbon sulfonic acids, and an apparatus to distill oils. In addition, he developed sophisticated typewriter parts, including specific ways for the typewriter to feed through continuous sheets of paper and detach the strip at a desired place, a card/sheet holder allowing the typewriter to print upon a flat surface, enhancing the typing quality of the machine, and a new type of platen to facilitate displacement, replacement, and adjustment of work. He also developed parts for typewriter machines specifically related to the printing of books that enabled the user to raise and lower the machine to make printing more convenient and time efficient.Hiram Halle also invented a new way to hang and secure clothing garments with a hook and eye, increasing the ease and safety of garment hanging. Continuing his inventive streak, Halle developed a new kind of multi-perforated bill statement sheet with many separating areas to tear off statements.
New School
Halle was an integral part of the creation of The University in Exile—an extension of the New School for Social Research. Founded in 1933 by Alvin JohnsonAlvin Saunders Johnson
Alvin Saunders Johnson, Ph.D. was an American economist, born near Homer, Neb., and a co-founder and first director of The New School.-Biography:...
, the University in Exile was dedicated to rescuing scholars who had lost their positions under Hitler during that time. Johnson sought $120,000 to finance 15 scholars over a two-year period at salaries of $4,000 per year. Halle was "captivated" by Johnson's idea and pledged the entire sum, requesting that he remain anonymous. With the grant from Halle, Johnson actively recruited members of the German intellectual and activist community. In 1934, the organization took the name Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Other notable donations from refugee aid organizations included The Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars.
Between 1933 and 1945, the New School helped hundreds of European scholars and artists, including Mario Einaudi
Mario Einaudi
Mario Einaudi was a scholar of political theory and European comparative politics. He was born in 1905 in Italy. His father, Luigi Einaudi, was one of Italy’s great economic thinkers and later became the first President of the Republic of Italy .[3] A graduate of the University of Turin’s...
, Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
, Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, and Gaetano Salvemini
Gaetano Salvemini
Gaetano Salvemini was an Italian anti-fascist politician, historian and writer.- Biography :Salvemini was born in Molfetta, Apulia....
, in the social sciences and history, and Herbert Berghof
Herbert Berghof
Herbert Berghof was an Austrian American actor, director and acting coach. He co-founded HB Studio in New York City with his wife Uta Hagen in 1945...
, Fritz Eichenberg
Fritz Eichenberg
Fritz Eichenberg was a German-American illustrator who worked primarily in wood engraving. His best-known works were concerned with religion, social justice and nonviolence....
, Erwin Piscator
Erwin Piscator
Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator was a German theatre director and producer and, with Bertolt Brecht, the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of drama, rather than its emotional manipulation of the audience or on the production's formal...
, and George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
in the arts.
There is a Hiram J. Halle Fellowship that is awarded annually at the New School. It is given to doctoral candidates who have demonstrated "outstanding merit" and are considered candidates of "special competence and originality" by New School faculty.
Universal Oil Products
More businessman than scientist, Halle, nevertheless, nurtured an atmosphere of respect for research in which top scientists thrived. In 1914, J. Ogden ArmourJ. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour was an American meatpacking magnate in Chicago, and owner and president of Armour and Company. During his tenure as president, Armour & Co...
hired him to manage the newly created Universal Oil Products company, which had as its main asset the Dubbs patents for cracking oil
Cracking (chemistry)
In petroleum geology and chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or heavy hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products...
. Halle was elected president of UOP in 1919, the year C. P. Dubbs perfected a continuous-circulation process that proved superior to the original patent and to any other method of refining oil. Halle chose to license the Dubbs process to all refiners rather than enter the refining business in competition with them. This decision became the business formula under which UOP still operates. Halle remained in charge of UOP until his death in 1944 at age 76.
Riverside
The Riverside research and development laboratory was conceived in 1921 by Hiram J. Halle, the chief executive officer of Universal Oil Products (now simply UOP), as a focal point where the best and brightest scientists could create new products and provide scientific support for the oil refining industry. By 1921, that industry was growing rapidly as increasing numbers of automobiles led to greater demand for refined oil products. The establishment of Riverside gave independent oil refiners access to scientific research that allowed them to compete with the major oil companies. Halle also thought the laboratory would make a positive statement about the influence of his new organization.Pound Ridge
Halle moved to Pound Ridge, New YorkPound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
, part of wealthy Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
located about an hour outside of New York City. He arrived in 1928 at the age of 61 at a time when the farming community was in economic decline. Halle bought 33 homes over the next decade and worked on improving these homes, 13 of which are now on the National Register of Historic Places. He also purchased a former farm on Trinity Pass Road, moved some barns to the property, and used them to store his vast collection of English and American antiques. Halle created a workshop on his property where his team of 60 laborers worked, and also paid locals to rebuild the stone walls and perform other repairs in town. With unemployment rampant during The Great Depression, Halle, the largest landowner, was also the largest employer in town. There is some controversy over whether his changes to these homes are considered restorations to reflect "colonial revivalism" or straight out renovations. Today, town historians say his changes were drastic and call his changes to these homes as "hallecized".
Halle was also dedicated to the development of his adopted hometown, Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
. Between 1936-39 he brought Jewish exiles to Pound Ridge to restore classic homes. This work played a key role in revitalizing the town. His philanthropy also extended to the town's farmers left struggling through the Depression. His purchases of family homesteads afforded the families enough money to leave town or allow those who stayed to remain on Halle's payroll.
Halle also boasted a private collection of historically important books and documents, including the original edition of Richard Carmarden's" A Caveat for the Quene"(1570). Additionally, Halle owned a now famous collection of Georgian furniture, paintings, works by Epstein, and many other important pieces of artwork.
Well-known actors and entertainers have flocked to Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
and made it their homes, because of its small town quality, privacy, and easy commute to Manhattan. Some famous residents, past and present, include: Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
, Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
, Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
, Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy was an English-American stage and film actress.She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's King Lear. She also worked in British films...
, Jane Pauley
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley is an American television journalist, and has been involved in news reporting since 1975...
, and many others.
The Pound Ridge Historic District
Pound Ridge Historic District
Pound Ridge Historic District is a national historic district located at Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York. The district contains 46 contributing buildings and encompasses almost all of the hamlet. The majority of the buildings in the district date between 1780 and 1852. The earliest...
was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1985.
Hiram Halle Memorial Library
The library in Pound Ridge, located at 258 Hiram Halle Library, on Route #124 in Pound Ridge, New YorkPound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
, is named for him, the Hiram Halle Memorial Library. Its original building was an old schoolhouse sold to the town by the Halle Family Trust.
The Hiram Halle Library opened in 1952 and today has a collection of over 60,000 items including books, magazines, CDs, talking- book cassettes and videos. The Library's collection is particularly strong in the arts, biographies, mysteries and cookbooks. In addition, the Library offers an electronic database and Internet access for reference and research. Through the Interlibrary Loan Program, books not owned by the Library can be provided quickly and efficiently via Westlynx, the computerized card catalog of Westchester's 38 public libraries and other data bases.
The Library also offers activities such as The Adult Learning Center, arts and craft exhibits, films, concerts, lectures and book-discussion programs year round. The Library also sponsors a wide range of children's activities including Winter and Spring vacation programs, story hours, holiday activities, arts and crafts workshops, and the annual Summer Reading Program.
The Pound Ridge Library Foundation announced the launching of a $2.9 million Capital Campaign that would serve to expanding and repairing the old library. The campaign is estimated to take up to five years and will use tax deductible contributions.
Cleveland-born actress Halle Berry was named for Halle's family Cleveland department store.
Click here for a look at a period photo of this library
Sources
- http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/subpage.aspx?id=9064
- http://www.stamfordhistory.org/halle1.htm
- The Record-Review, 12/31/99
- http://www.poundridgelibrary.org/
- If you're Thinking of Living in/Pound Ridge, N.Y.; Affluent, Rural and Very, Very Private. New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E0D61539F932A05750C0A960958260
- Patents and inventions http://www.google.com/patents?id=vVZlAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=hiram+halle
- Patents and inventions http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT773287&id=--99AAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=hiram+halle
- Hiram J. Halle was also an artist and a painter. Here is an example of his work: http://pro.corbis.com/images/S1081.jpg?size=67&uid=%7B453F73DD-DD00-4829-ACD3-CA03186B5933%7D
External links
- For a fun look at a 1931 Time Magazine article on Halle and his associates, please see: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740898-2,00.html