Wikipedia

Boots Adams: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Testcase
Tag: Reverted
No edit summary
 
(18 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Short description|American business executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kenneth = BootsStanley Adams
| image = <noinclude>K. S. Boots Adams.jpg</noinclude>
| alt = Photograph of K. S. Boots Adams
| caption =
| birth_name birth_date = KennethAugust Stanley31, Adams1899
| birth_date birth_place = August 31[[Horton, 1899Kansas]]
| birth_placedeath_date = {{Death date and = [[Horton, Kansas]], USage|1975|03|30|1899|08|31}}
| death_place = [[Bartlesville]], Oklahoma, US]]▼
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|03|30|1899|08|31}}
| resting_place = Memorial Park Cemetery
▲| death_place = [[Bartlesville]], Oklahoma, US
| resting_place alma_mater = Memorial[[University Parkof CemeteryKansas]]
| children = [[Bud Adams]]<br/>Mary Louise Adams<br/>Stephen Stanley Adams<br/>Kenneth Glenn Adams<br/>Gary Clark Adams<br/>Lisa Ann Adams<br/>Stephaine Lynn Adams
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|36.72970|-95.92750|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Kansas]]
| occupation = Business executive
| employer = [[Phillips Petroleum Company]]
| title = President of Phillips Petroleum
| term = 1939–1964
| predecessor = [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]]
| successor = Stanley Learned
| boards = Chairman of the Board of Phillips Petroleum
| children = [[Bud Adams]]
}}
 
'''Kenneth Stanley '''"'''Boots'''"''' Adams''' (August 31, 1899 – March 30, 1975) was an American [[business executive]], [[University of Kansas]] [[Boosterism|booster]], and [[city|civic]] [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]] of [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]]. Adams began his career with the [[Phillips Petroleum Company]] in 1920 as a clerk in the warehouse department. Twelve years later, he was chosen by founder and president [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]] to fill the newly created position of Assistant to the President. On April 26, 1938, Adams was elected president of Phillips Petroleum Company by the unanimous vote of the company's Boardboard of Directorsdirectors.
 
Upon succeeding Frank Phillips as president, Adams, then 38 years old, became one of the nation's youngest leaders of a major corporation. He remained in continuous service as the company's [[CEO|chief executive]] until his retirement in 1964. Although he retired from company operations, Adams continued serving as its board chairman until 1968; finishing his affiliation as a board member from 1968 to 1970. During his tenure, Adams grew the business into a major corporation by investing in natural gas and synthetic rubber operations.
 
==Early life==
Kenneth Stanley Adams was born August 31, 1899, in [[Horton, Kansas]]. He iswas the son of John V. and Lavella Adams (née Stanley).<ref name="ingham"/> His father was an engineer for the [[Rock Island Railroad]]. In 1902, the family provided room and board to many families affected by a flood, including some of John's co-workers.<ref name="LJW"/> One of the male guests noticed that Kenneth had a pair of boots he wore even to bed. The man began calling him "Boots". From then on, Kenneth Adams adopted "Boots" as his nickname.<ref name="LJW"/><ref name="Auto7W-1"/>
 
Adams graduated from [[Wyandotte High School]] in 1917, the same year brothers Lee Eldas "L.E." and [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]] founded the [[Phillips Petroleum Company]]. After graduating, Adams moved to [[Dewey, Oklahoma]] and started his first job. He delivered ice in the neighboring town of [[Bartlesville]]. Adams said he was happy that the work involved heavy lifting because it helped him maintain his physical conditioning which he would need as a college athlete.<ref name="LJW"/> He enrolled at the [[University of Kansas]] in the fall of 1917 and played on the university's football, baseball, and basketball teams. Although he would have graduated the following year, Adams dropped out of the university in 1920. He decided to place academics on hold and accept a position in the Phillips Petroleum Company.<ref name="LJW"/><ref name="ICEJ"/><ref name="Auto7W-2"/>
 
On September 8, 1920, Adams married Barbara Blanche Keeler; whose brother, [[W. W. Keeler]], would later become Presidentpresident and Chiefchief Executiveexecutive Officerofficer of Phillips Petroleum Corporation and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Their eldest son, [[Bud Adams|Kenneth S. Jr.]], would himself become a business magnate and owner of the [[Tennessee Titans]]. In 1945, Boots and Blanche Adams were divorced. Boots Adams married Dorothy Glynn Stephens the following year.<ref name="ingham"/><ref name="TDOR16"/>
 
==Career at Phillips Petroleum==
Line 75 ⟶ 66:
Boots Adams retired from his position as company president in 1964, after 44 years with the company. The following year the city of Bartlesville organized a parade and civic holiday to honor Boots Adams on his 66th birthday – and give thanks with a public celebration. The schools in Bartlesville were closed and the town itself was officially renamed ''Bootsville'' for the entire day. A huge birthday cake was mocked up to resemble an oil storage tank, and the Phillips 66 logo ''"stood tall"'' in its own pair of boots.<ref name="Pres"/>
 
Several dignitaries were present as well including President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]];<ref name="Pres"/><ref name="UWP"/> as both a personal friend of Boots' and a U.S. Presidentpresident, carrying the gratitude of a nation.<ref name="Auto7W-11"/> Eisenhower was a direct beneficiary of the GR-S program and Adams' participation in it.<ref name="Butadiene"/> He was arguably the single man with "the most to lose" if GR-S had failed.
 
The President adopted the hobby of painting in 1950, as a relaxing way to reduce stress. He presented Boots Adams with a portrait he had recently painted – depicting Adams seated at the head of a table, as chairman of the PhilipsPhillips 66 board. The portrait was a prized heirloom of Adams' second wife, Dorothy Glynn, and remains in the family's care, having been passed on to the eldest daughter of Boots and Dorothy.<ref name="Pres"/>
 
[[W. Clarke Wescoe]], the [[University of Kansas]]' (KU) 10th chancellor attended as well; thanking Adams for his alumnus support, and philanthropic goodwill. In appreciation, Wescoe announced the Universityuniversity's decision to name its planned on-campus residential complex, the Adams Center.<ref name="Auto7W-12"/><ref name="100grand"/> Stanley Learned, Boots Adams' successor as president of Phillips, as well as a KU alumnus himself, showed his support of the university's decision by donating {{US$|100000|1965|round=0}} for use "at the chancellors discretion".<ref name="LJW"/><ref name="100grand"/>
 
==Death and legacy==
Line 92 ⟶ 83:
<ref name="Auto7W-1"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMF0T6_1950_Adams_Building_Bartlesville_OK 1950 Adams Building Bartlesville OK]. waymarking.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</span></ref>
 
<ref name="ICEJ">(April 14, 2013). <span class="plainlinks">[http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/special-reports/making-history-industry.html Making history in industry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728230952/http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/special-reports/making-history-industry.html |date=2014-07-28 }}</span>. Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. Retrieved June 8, 2013.</ref>
 
<ref name="Auto7W-2"><span class="plainlinks">[http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/living/columnists/city%E2%80%99s-birthday-coming.html City's Birthday is Coming]. examiner-enterprise.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</span></ref>
Line 100 ⟶ 91:
<ref name="TDOR14"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ASzB87IdUmcC&pg=PA13 Robbins 2001],</span> p. 14.</ref>
 
<ref name="Life (1947)"><span class="plainlinks">{{cite journalmagazine|title=Amateur Professionals: The Phillips basketball team works for money and plays for recreation|journalmagazine=Life|date=December 8, 1947|pages=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA149 |accessdate=June 6, 2014}}</span></ref>
 
<ref name="OUP"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=FhzFM466R2YC&pg=PA319 Knowles 1980],</span> p. 319.</ref>
Line 124 ⟶ 115:
<ref name="DuDow">{{cite web|title=Rubber Matters: Solving the World War II Rubber Problem & Collaboration|url=http://www.chemheritage.org/research/policy-center/oral-history-program/projects/rubber-matters/02-wartime-crisis.aspx?page=2|publisher=[[Chemical Heritage Foundation]]|accessdate=22 March 2018|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204230407/http://www.chemheritage.org/research/policy-center/oral-history-program/projects/rubber-matters/02-wartime-crisis.aspx?page=2 |archivedate = December 4, 2014}}</ref>
 
<ref name="Butadiene"><span class="plainlinks">[http://etext.ku.edu/view?docId=ksrlead/ksrl.kc.learnedstanley.xml Photographs of Plains Butadiene Plant; a plant incorporating Phillips processes and designed, built and operated by Phillips Petroleum Company for the National Synthetic Rubber Program of World War II – with a bound volume of captioned photographic prints].</span> ku.edu. Retrieved July 13, 2013.</ref>
 
<ref name="Grain v. Petrol">{{cite web|title=Rubber Matters: Solving the World War II Rubber Problem & the Grain verses Petroleum Debate|url=http://www.chemheritage.org/research/policy-center/oral-history-program/projects/rubber-matters/feature-grain-v-petroleum.aspx|publisher=[[Chemical Heritage Foundation]]|accessdate=22 March 2018|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714073348/http://www.chemheritage.org/research/policy-center/oral-history-program/projects/rubber-matters/feature-grain-v-petroleum.aspx |archivedate = 2013-07-14 }}</ref>
Line 144 ⟶ 135:
<ref name="BBK95"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=EJ5g4dTqGyIC&pg=PA90 Perkins 2008],</span> p. 95.</ref>
 
<ref name="Auto7W-9"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.bartlesvillehistory.com/pages/bartlesville_timeline Bartlesville Area History Museum/timeline/1962] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814110710/http://bartlesvillehistory.com/pages/bartlesville_timeline |date=2013-08-14 }}</span>. bartlesvillehistory.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
 
<ref name="Pres">{{cite web|last1=Barns|first1=Rita, Thurman|title-=Lost Bartlesville: The day a president came to town and the love of a lifetime…|url=http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/opinion/columnists/lost-bartlesville-day-president-came-town-and-love-lifetime%E2%80%A6.html|website=Bartlesville Examiner|accessdate=26 April 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140726204034/http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/opinion/columnists/lost-bartlesville-day-president-came-town-and-love-lifetime%E2%80%A6.html|archivedate=July 26, 2014|language=en|date=April 21, 2013}}</ref>
 
<ref name="UWP"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=w7vUH72TB2IC&pg=PA495 Atta 2008],</span> p. 495.</ref>
Line 190 ⟶ 181:
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Oklahoma]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_Adams"