Homer L. Ferguson
Encyclopedia
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and businessman. He was President of Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
from July 22, 1915 through July 31, 1946.
Biography
Ferguson was born in Waynesville, North CarolinaWaynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in Western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about or 50 km southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue...
on March 6, 1873. At the age of fifteen he entered the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
and graduated at the head of his class in 1892. His education continued at the Glasgow University
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
from 1892 through 1895, where he studied naval architecture.
While in the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
he served as Assistant Naval Constructor. He was at the Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland, 1895–1896; at the Navy Yard, Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, 1896–1899; the Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, 1899–1900; at the Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
, in Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
as Superintending Naval Constructor, 1900–1902; the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, 1902–1904; and with the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, 1904-1905.
In 1905 Ferguson resigned from the Navy and became Assistant Superintendent of Construction for Newport News Shipbuilding. During the next ten years, as Superintendent and later as General Manager, he not only built up the physical property of the plant and improved methods of operation, but strengthened the personnel chiefly by the development of the young men in the organization. It was under Ferguson that the Apprentice School
The Apprentice School
The Apprentice School is a four-year apprenticeship vocational school founded and operated by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. The school trains students for careers in the shipbuilding industry...
was founded to develop and train shipbuilders.
On Mat 7, 1915, shipyard president Albert L. Hopkins was traveling to England on the RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
when he died after the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off Queenstown on the Irish coast. 127 other Americans also lost their lives. The Lusitania incident was among the events that brought the United States into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. A manager when Albert Hopkins died, Ferguson assumed the presidency the following July. In that capacity, he was to see the company through both world wars.
Hilton Village
Hilton Village is a planned, English-village-style neighborhood in Newport News, Virginia. Recognized as a pioneering development in urban planning, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was built between 1918 and 1921 in response to the need for housing...
, located just northwest of the shipyard. In January 1918, Ferguson appeared before a United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
subcommittee investigating shipyard conditions. Ferguson was very persuasive regarding the impact of the war effort on the lack of housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
for shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
workers. With preliminary designs in hand and with the shipyard's offer to purchase land for the project, Ferguson was able to secure a $1.2 million dollar appropriation to begin construction immediately. The Hilton Village project was the first of its kind and is recognized today as a pioneering urban planning project. Hilton Village served as the prototype of approximately 100 similar wartime government housing projects. After the war, in 1922, Henry E. Huntington
Henry E. Huntington
Henry Edwards Huntington was a railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Born in Oneonta, New York, Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate interests...
, who had a close relationship with Ferguson, acquired it from the government, and helped facilitate the sale of the homes to shipyard employees and other local residents.
Ferguson and his wife, the former Eliza Anderson Skinner, raised 5 children and were active in many civic affairs in Newport News and Warwick County. He was President of the United States Chamber of Commerce
United States Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....
, 1919-1920.
At the shipyard, Homer Ferguson served until July 31, 1946, after the second World War
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...
had ended on both the European and Pacific fronts. As a noted community leader, he was a co-founder of the Mariners' Museum
Mariners' Museum
The Mariners' Museum is located in Newport News, Virginia. It is one of the largest maritime museums in the world as well as being the largest in North America.- History :The museum was founded in 1932 by Archer Milton Huntington, son of Collis P...
with Archer M. Huntington
Archer M. Huntington
Archer Milton Huntington was the son of Arabella Huntington and the stepson of railroad magnate and industrialist Collis P. Huntington...
and his wife, sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
Anna Hyatt
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor.-Life and career:Huntington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father, Alpheus Hyatt, was a professor of paleontology and zoology at Harvard University and MIT, and served as a contributing factor to her early interest in animals and...
. Ferguson remained active with the museum until his death.
Homer L. Ferguson died in 1953 of a heart attack at the age of 80. A few years later, his widow joined Martha Woodroof Hiden, another widow of a community leader (Phillip W. Hiden, a former Mayor of Newport News) in cutting the ceremonial ribbon to note the recombining of the former Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
(which became an independent city in 1952) with Newport News, Virginia|Newport News, which had separated from the county to become a separate independent city in 1896, forming the consolidated "new" City of Newport News in 1958.
Legacy
The former Homer L. Ferguson High SchoolHomer L. Ferguson High School
Ferguson High School was formerly a high school in Newport News, Virginia, named for Homer L. Ferguson, who was president of Newport News Shipbuilding from July 22, 1915 until July 31, 1946. It was operated by Newport News Public Schools....
of Newport News Public Schools
Newport News Public Schools
Newport News Public Schools is the branch of the government of Newport News, Virginia that operates the city's system of public schools. , NNPS had an enrollment of 30,568. The district employs about 5,100 people, including 2,685 teachers and teacher assistants.-Organization:Like all public K–12...
was named for him.
The I.M. Pei-designed Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts
Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts
The Ferguson Center for the Arts is a theater and concert hall on the campus of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, USA. The complex fully opened in September 2005 with two concert halls and many other facilities.-Performing arts venues:...
is a theater and concert hall named for Ferguson on the campus of Christopher Newport University
Christopher Newport University
Christopher Newport University, or CNU, is a public liberal arts university located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. CNU is the youngest comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia...
in Newport News.
At the Mariners' Museum
Mariners' Museum
The Mariners' Museum is located in Newport News, Virginia. It is one of the largest maritime museums in the world as well as being the largest in North America.- History :The museum was founded in 1932 by Archer Milton Huntington, son of Collis P...
in Newport News, the Ferguson Society, named for Ferguson, is a patron society for those who donate $1,000 - $2,499. Ferguson, along with the Huntington family, laid the foundation for the Museum.
"Ferguson Avenue" in 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...
neighborhood of Hilton Village
Hilton Village
Hilton Village is a planned, English-village-style neighborhood in Newport News, Virginia. Recognized as a pioneering development in urban planning, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was built between 1918 and 1921 in response to the need for housing...
is named after Ferguson.