I'll Invest My Money in People - W.K. Kellogg Foundation

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

“I’ll Invest My Money in People”

A biographical sketch of the Founder of the Kellogg Company and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Published by theW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

“I’ll Invest My Money in People”

Tenth Edition, February 2002

Revised and reprinted 2000,1998, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989,1987, 1984.First edition published 1979.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-063691Printed in the United States of America

Part 1 – W.K. Kellogg’s House

Van Buren Street Residence 5

Part 2 – The Philanthropist

“I’ll Invest My Money In People” 29

Beginnings 30

The Sanitarium Years 45

The Executive 48

Success and Tragedy 51

The Shy Benefactor 63

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation 70

Table of Contents

Part 1

W.K. Kellogg’s House

Van Buren Street Residence

W.K. Kellogg. The man’s name, spoken orwritten, almost a half-century after his death, isassociated with entrepreneurship, creativity,vision, and humanitarianism. Those are bigwords. However appropriate they may be,

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A home is not a mere transient shelter.Its essence lies in its permanence, in itscapacity for accretion and solidification, inits quality of representing, in all its details,the personalities of the people who live in it.

H.L. Mencken, 1929

they probably would have been shunned byMr. Kellogg—the developer of a worldwide cerealindustry and an international foundation that isdedicated to helping people to solve societalproblems.

He shied from any hint of praise for himself.With a candor that matched his devotion toaction and outcomes, he was known to turnaside compliments, flattery, or acclaim. ElsieHoatson Elbon, W.K.’s nurse for many years dur-ing his later life, commented: “I never heard himbrag about the many things he had done for oth-ers. Not ever.” Tributes made him uncomfort-able, as proved by his own remarks. In 1931, forinstance, he wrote in a business memo:

I object seriously to being referred to as theCereal King (by) the editor of (a nationalnewspaper)…He used the word philan-thropy several times. I asked him to cut itout and to take out the apple sauce.

That same year he advised his grandson:

In conversation with people forget theword “I.” Keep your feet on the earth andyour head up, but not too high in the sky.Be humble.

For a man of W.K.’s wealth, his residence at256 West Van Buren was anything but grand orshowy. It had 4500 square feet of living space(counting the basement), making it no largerthan most of the homes in the immediate area. Itwas a two-story structure, again, like most of itsneighbors. But it differed from other nearbyhouses because of its simple design and stuccoexterior. This contrasted with the prevailingpopular, ornate, gothic frame styles.

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W.K.’s house, like the man, was free of trap-pings, even restrained. Its personality matchedwell the simpler tastes and preferences of itsowner. It had an aura of stability and durabilityabout it that caught and held the eye and theinterest of any passerby who took the time togive it more than a random glance.

From about 1911 until 1990, the house onWest Van Buren stood directly across the streetfrom McCamly Park. Between 1918 and 1924 itwas the home for Mr. Kellogg and his secondwife, Dr. Carrie Staines. There they occasionallyentertained visitors, frequently hosted familygatherings that brought three generations ofKelloggs together around the dinner table or theChristmas tree, and on sultry summer eveningssat on the open front porch of the house anddrank ice-cooled lemonade and listened to themusic that floated across to them from the bandconcerts in the park.

The house sat just east of the nearby KelloggHotel (later named the Hart Hotel) and only ashort walk northwest to the Kellogg Inn onChampion Street, where the early offices of theFoundation would one day be situated. Many ofthe city’s streets were only hard packed ground,looking like well-traveled country roads, as didVan Buren in front of the Kellogg house in itsbeginning years. Horse-drawn buggies and wag-ons could be heard at all hours of the day, clack-ing along, driven by husky fellows who easilydelivered 50-pound blocks of dripping ice tohomes and businesses along their routes, andwhite-jacketed men carrying rattling wire casesof glass bottles filled with cream and fresh milk,haulers and movers of every sort going abouttheir work. Added in was the regular clanging

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racket of the electric streetcar as it moved upWashington past the Sanitarium to Ann Avenue,then across to Wood and finally, retracing itsown tracks, rumbled down Washington to MainStreet on its trip back toward the hub of town.

There were few automobiles on the roads,though the number was growing noticeably.Soon Van Buren boasted an impressive, pavedsurface of macadam. The end result was acacophony of noise and activity in a busy, thriv-ing Battle Creek. Viewing it from the Kelloggfront porch was to watch a living picture of pros-perity, vitality, and progress.

When Mr. Kellogg walked in his backyardand looked up beyond a tall, wood frame housesituated on Champion Street, he could see thesprawling, six-story Battle Creek Sanitariumstretching two city blocks into the distance.Again and again, that view surely recalled forhim the two and a half decades of 14-hour workdays, myriad duties, and low pay he hadendured at the “San,” conditions that unques-tionably left profound impressions.

A former vice president of the KelloggFoundation, Leonard White, recalls: “All throughhis life, including the 25 years he worked for Dr.Kellogg at the Sanitarium, W.K. was generous. Hesaw to it that people who needed extra helpreceived it, that bills were forgiven. All duringthe Depression he saw to it that his employeeshad coal for their stoves when they needed it.”

Russell G. Mawby, former chief executiveofficer of the Kellogg Foundation and chairmanof its board, pointed out that W.K. believed“sometimes charity such as food, clothing, andshelter is necessary. But he felt that usually the

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▲ John L. Kellogg, Jr. and Will Keith Kellogg II,grandsons of W.K. Kellogg, shown in the drivewayof the Van Buren Street residence. They are wear-ing uniforms of the Citizens Military TrainingCorps (the high school equivalent of ROTC). Theyear is approximately 1926.

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Power lines and telephone lines were lowered aheadof the house as it moved past familiar landmarksalong city streets, restricted from normal trafficusage. The utility lines were then restored in itswake.

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▲ By late September, exterior work was nearing com-pletion. The fieldstone wall, which edges the city’sLinear Park path, was in place.

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▲ The now-classic decor of the early 1920s is recre-ated in the living room. A grand piano and Orientalrug, similar to those of Mr. Kellogg, are accented bya graceful statuette of a young woman. The stat-uette actually was owned by Mr. Kellogg.

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▲ Restored to its original beauty, the dining roomreflects its own historic time. The tall breakfrontbelonged to Mr. Kellogg.

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▲ This elegant, recreated bedroom now holdssome of Mr. Kellogg’s possessions. The armchairbeside the desk, the elephant sculpture on themantle, and the paintings all were his. Other fur-nishings are authentic to the period.

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▲ Viewed from the Foundation’s headquarters sitein October 1990, north across the Battle Creek River,the house blends serenely with its surroundings.

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▲ The front porch and sunroom of the KelloggHouse today look out across a low fieldstone walltoward the nearby river in downtown Battle Creek.

most good could be done by helping people tohelp themselves. The main thing is to give themthe opportunity to do that which is important tothem, rather than doing it for them or tellingthem what they ought to do.” Mawby said, “Thatbelief became the purpose of the Foundation Mr.Kellogg created and, like the Van Buren Streethouse, it has stood the test of time.”

Norman Williamson, Jr., grandson of W.K.Kellogg, described the house as he remembered it:

On the front was an uncovered porchwhere one could sit in good weather.…Immediately behind the porch was asunroom that reached to the second story.The entry from the street was directly intothe living room. It was large, for it extend-ed the entire width of the house with win-dows on both the east and west and asunroom to the south. There was aLalique glass replica of a black cat thatserved as a doorstop. There also was aceramic Boston terrier with a jewelledcollar, and in the 1920s W.K. acquired aplayer piano.

He recalled a passageway from the livingroom to the dining room. He said that enrouteyou passed a bathroom on the left and a stairwayto the basement on the right. The dining roomwas commodious, like the living room, extend-ing the entire width of the house. It contained adining table with chairs to seat a dozen or morepeople. Service from the kitchen was summonedby a floor button at W.K.’s place.

Williamson said the kitchen had a refrigerator“which produced the miracle of ice cubes. Athome we had only the customary icebox that had

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to be ‘recharged’ regularly by the iceman.” And,for him, the basement was the “most fascinatingto all of us children” because it had a small bil-liard table which also “converted into a sofa toprovide extra seating space for such exciting occa-sions as Christmas Eve gift exchanging.”

The maid occupied the apartment over thegarage; the chauffeur lived in W.K.’s former housenearby on Champion Street.

After W.K. completed his Kellogg apartments(the Inn), he moved there in 1924 but, Williamsonsaid, he vacillated between his sixth floor suiteand his former residence. Eventually, the housewas occupied for several years by Hanna Kellogg(first wife of W.K.’s son, John) and her two sons,John, Jr., and Keith.

The house became the property of the KelloggFoundation in 1987. It had been vacant for 12years, its empty rooms providing a refuge from theweather for adventurous birds that found their waydown the fireplace chimney, its dark windows gaz-ing blankly out at a changing neighborhood.

On March 24, 1990, the former home of W.K.Kellogg was moved from its location on West VanBuren Street to the downtown site of the KelloggFoundation’s corporate headquarters.

The renovated house provides a base for theFoundation’s Expert-In-Residence program. Thisprogram brings acknowledged authorities toBattle Creek on a short-term basis to conductseminars and workshops in areas of interest tothe Foundation’s programming fields. With itsunderstated charm and elegant practicality care-fully restored, the Kellogg House continues toserve in the quiet tradition of its original owner.

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W.K.’s longtime friend and physician, DoctorGeorge Slagle, said, “Will Keith Kellogg was agreat man. What he did for the city of BattleCreek you can read all over town—the Ann J.Kellogg school and so very much more. He was a‘go-getter.’ He was a dynamo hidden beneath arather calm exterior. He was a tremendous devel-oper and he made Battle Creek what it is.”

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Part 2

The Philanthropist

“I’ll Invest My Money In People”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation exists becauseof the interweavings of fate. Tenets of visionaryreligion, the flux of business, the rivalry betweenstrong-willed brothers, the success of a health spaand the unexpected discovery of a flake cereal—these are what shaped this story.

The focus, however, still is on the singularW.K. Kellogg himself. Born in the 19th century,he was one of the 20th century’s great movers ofideas and shakers of tradition—men like AndrewCarnegie, Henry Ford, Bertrand Russell, J.C.Penney, Bernard Shaw, and Charles Stewart Mott,who had the driving force and will for severallives, and who entered their later years at thepeak of their powers.

While possessing extraordinary businessacumen, Kellogg was painfully shy. Yet he hadfaith in the public’s ability to know a good prod-uct when they see it.

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Beginnings

“I Never Learned to Play”

The first of the Kellogg family to migrate toAmerica was Joseph Kellogg—born in 1626 to along line of Scottish and English Kelloggs—whosettled in Hadley, Massachusetts, where theKellogg family prospered for nearly two cen-turies. One of Joseph’s descendants, John PrestonKellogg, left Hadley in 1834 with his wife, MaryAnn, and two sons to move to Flint, Michigan.

John Preston Kellogg was a devout Christianbut was well aware of human needs on the earth-ly plane. He was much disillusioned with medi-cine as it was practiced in that primitive envi-ronment. When Mary Ann died of tuberculosis,John sought something firm in which to believe.He became an abolitionist and often shelteredslaves fleeing to Canada. It was not enough.

Kellogg married Ann Janette Stanley and in1849 their two-year-old Emma Frances suc-cumbed to a misdiagnosed case of lung inflam-mation. Further disgusted with poor medical ser-vices, Kellogg found solace in the Seventh-DayAdventist faith, which considered personalhealth of prime importance. Smoking tobacco,drinking alcohol and eating meat were taboo.When the Adventists set up a publishing officein Battle Creek, Michigan, John moved his fami-ly there and established a broom factory.

The Kellogg family grew as the Adventistfaith mushroomed in Battle Creek. In 1866 theAdventists set up the Western Health Reform

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Institute in the city, where Merritt G. Kellogg—the family’s firstborn—was to become a physi-cian. Another physician son, John HarveyKellogg, was destined to run this same institu-tion as the Battle Creek Sanitarium and shape itinto one of the then most famous health spas inthe world.

However, the name of Will Keith Kellogg,born April 7, 1860, was to become far morefamiliar to millions of the world’s early-morninghungry.

I was my father’s seventh son born on theseventh day of the week and the seventhday of the month. My father was a sev-enth child and the name ‘Kellogg’ hasseven letters.

It was W.K. Kellogg’s lifelong whim to stay inrooms on the seventh floor of hotels and withroom numbers ending in seven. But he wasn’t ajoking man normally. To look at Will Kellogg’spoker face in photographs of his youth, onewould conclude correctly that he was serious-minded.

Enlisted into the broom trade early, W.K.Kellogg was a salesman with his own territory bythe age of 14, at which time he started paying hisway in the world. Hard work, long hours and theAdventist regimen—and certainly the strictupbringing characteristic of pioneer family life—molded a young man whose outlook was towardself-betterment.

“As a boy, I never learned to play,” he was tosay, and he often regretted his inability to smileor laugh easily. He might chuckle, but you werelucky to catch him at it. After all, it was a tough

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life. Illnesses and death plagued the Kellogg fam-ily. Three other children died, and Will barelysurvived malaria. He also had little schooling.But Will did read extensively—even after a diffi-cult start:

When I was a boy in school, the teacherthought I was dim-witted because I had difficul-ty reading what was on the blackboard. I was 20years old before I myself found out what was thematter: I was nearsighted. A proper medicalexamination would have settled that the day Ientered school. Since then, I have often thoughtof what science can do for underprivileged chil-dren if they can be taken in hand at the propertime.

Seeking experience in the broom trade,teenaged Will went to Texas, but city life thererepelled him. Open sewers alongside Dallas’streets disgusted him, for his concern abouthealth—like his family’s—was ever zealous. Hedecided he had learned enough in the Texasschool of hard knocks, and headed home.

Will knew what he needed to know, andwhen—and he wouldn’t waste time while learningit. In 1880, impatient Will enrolled in a businesscourse and completed in four months what tookother students an academic year to finish. Thatsame year he married Ella Osborn Davis, and as aresponsible husband heeded his brother John’soffer of a job at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

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▲ The house where W.K. Kellogg was born onApril 7, 1860.

▼ Early day Battle Creek, Michigan.

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W.K. Kellogg was borninto a large family, and hestarted paying his own wayin the world early. At age14, Kellogg was a successfulbroom salesman with hisown territory.

▲ “Afraid I will always be a poor man,” Kelloggsaid of his 26-year career as bookkeeper, cashier,and general utility man for the Battle CreekSanitarium. He was 40 when this photograph wastaken and still employed at the San. He marriedhis first wife, the former Ella “Puss” Davis, thesame year he accepted his brother John’s offer of ajob at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

▲

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▲ At the height of its popular-ity, the Battle Creek Sanitariumwas a sprawling, multi-build-ing facility that stretched 15stories high, and treated 5,000patients annually. The Sanpromoted the Adventist regi-men of vegetarianism and theuse of hydrotherapy, as well asthe latest discoveries in diag-nostic medicine.

▲ Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, aneminent physician, was theemployer of his younger broth-er for a quarter-century at theBattle Creek Sanitarium. “TheDoctor” was frequently seenpedaling his bike while youngerbrother W.K. Kellogg joggedalongside to discuss forthcom-ing activities of the Sanitarium.

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▲ Working at night in the San kitchen, Will Kelloggboiled wheat to help the Doctor search for adigestible substitute for bread. One day in 1894, aftera batch of boiled wheat accidentally was left to stand,they tried again. Unknowingly, they had “tempered”the wheat by letting it stand. The compressed wheatwas flaked off rollers with blades devised by Will.Thus was modern day breakfast cereal created.

▼ This small building, on Brook Street behind theSan, was the first laboratory to produce the cereal forSan guests in 1896.

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▲ A key to W.K. Kellogg’s success in the break-fast cereal industry was the emphasis heplaced on advertising. Even when Wall Streetcollapsed in 1929 and brokers were ledge-leap-ing, Kellogg doubled his advertising budget.Reproduced above is the first “Sweetheart”advertisement which appeared in 1907.

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▲ Between 1902 and 1906, more than forty com-panies were organized in Battle Creek to producecereal foods and beverages. Intense competitionin the following decades resulted in few surviving.One of the most successful was W.K. Kellogg’s.This magazine cartoon illustrated how an effi-ciency engineer discovered that printing wouldsave Mr. Kellogg from having to sign his name oneach of the Corn Flakes boxes. (Reproduced bypermission. Copyright 1936 by The New YorkerMagazine, Inc.)

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▲ Kellogg refused to be a desk man exclusively andtoured the factory at least several times each week.His mechanical curiosity often impelled him to testnew factory equipment, as he is doing here in apower plant of the factory.

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▲ Six years after the deathof his first wife, W.K.Kellogg married Dr. CarrieStaines of the Battle CreekSanitarium medical staff in1918.

▼ The company workers were part of W.K. Kellogg’s“family,” and he lavished attention on them, includ-ing the provision of medical and dental clinics at theplant as well as a nursery for children of female work-ers. Here, Mr. Kellogg, on the eve of a seasonal trip toCalifornia, says goodbye to two veteran employees.

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▲ W.K. Kellogg hoped that members of his familywould take up the business, but that story is lacedwith personality clashes and tragedy. He is shownhere with his two sons and their children. In the backrow are Will Keith II (son of John L.), Karl Kellogg andJohn L. Kellogg. In the front row are Will Lewis andKarl Landram (both sons of Karl) and John, Jr. (son ofJohn L.). Kellogg’s eldest son, Karl, was a physicianwhile John L. was a successful businessman and fora time president of the Kellogg Company.

▼ This 1923 picture shows W.K. Kellogg with hisdaughter Beth (Mrs. Norman Williamson), and herchildren — John, Norman, Jr., Elizabeth Ann,Kenneth and Eleanor Jane.

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W.K. Kellogg was a serious-minded person whorarely relaxed completely. Almost all photographsdepict him scrupulously dressed in a business suit.He enjoyed travel and horticulture, however, andthese rare informal shots show him at his Gull Lakehome in the late 1920s, a time when his companywas prospering and expanding its operations inter-nationally.

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▲ Will Kellogg was one of the first American entre-preneurs to recognize the potential of internationalmarkets. He expanded company operations to Canadaand Australia in 1924 and England in 1938. Today,the Kellogg Company has plants in numerous coun-tries around the world. Pictured above is the KelloggCompany Corporate Headquarters in Battle Creek.

The Sanitarium Years

“I Will Always Be a Poor Man”

Will Kellogg was a slim, short man—thoughhe was much taller than his diminutive doctorbrother. At the San, Will performed duties rangingfrom managerial to janitorial as an assistant forthe man even Will came to call “The Doctor.”

Will was bookkeeper, cashier, packing andshipping clerk, errand boy and general utilityman. Dr. John Kellogg, now physician-in-chief,passed anything unrelated to the Sanitarium’smedical services to his younger brother, main-taining his older-brother relationship. It wasn’tthe most pleasant of circumstances or the mostideal of jobs for Will, but the arrival of his firstson, Karl Hugh, in 1881 and John Leonard in1883 certainly prompted him to keep his post.Other children followed: Irvin Hadley who diedin infancy, William Keith, Jr., who died at the ageof four years, and the Kelloggs’ only daughter,Elizabeth Ann, born in 1888.

“I feel kind of blue,” he told his diary aboutthis time. “Am afraid that I will always be a poorman the way things look now.”

The San promoted the Adventist regimen,along with many of Dr. Kellogg’s innovative ifunconventional remedies: water cures, mineralbaths, vegetarianism, fresh air and sunshine.John Harvey Kellogg drove himself hard, andpushed his brother along with him.

Among Dr. Kellogg’s enterprises were a healthfood company which manufactured menu itemsfor the San, and the Good Health PublishingCompany, which printed the Doctor’s books.

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Will was in charge of shipping books acrossthe country; it was just another duty in a careerwhich occasionally found him working 120hours a week. Will became big on details thanksto his prodigious, near-photographic memory.He became a careful observer and a shrewd bar-gainer, a formidable but self-critical business-man.

I was so overloaded with work that I amconscious that very little, if any of it, wasperformed satisfactorily.

Will often helped a poor person or needychild get medical care at the San, typically pay-ing for the services out of his own pocket. Hewas a man with almost limitless energy.Insomnia pestered him, so he spent his nightsscribbling notes and ideas for the next day.Sleeplessly cramming notes together became ahabit that lasted much of his life. Very often theideas were worthy ones.

The relationship between the Kellogg broth-ers was one of fluctuating conflict and care. TheDoctor’s dominant personality was irresistiblypressuring.

Will was quiet, reserved, withdrawn,somber, an introvert. John was dramatic, flam-boyant, at ease with himself and others, an exhi-bitionist. It was inevitable, perhaps, that theyshould clash, and it is strange to note that, hadtheir paths not diverged, a great deal of goodmight never have been accomplished.

Will and John got along well enough to worktogether on many projects, including the lengthyexperimentation and research needed in devel-oping San health foods. After all, they had much

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in common; as one San physician put it, thebrothers “were like two fellows trying to climbup the same ladder at the same time.” To someextent they cooperated and helped each other.

In 1894, after the day’s work was done, Willhad the task of conducting a series of experi-ments in the San kitchen, boiling wheat to helpthe Doctor in his search for a digestible substi-tute for bread. Working with a set of rollers togrind Granola, one of the San’s other originalproducts, the two brothers worked daily withoutsuccess to concoct an edible substance.

One day, after a batch of boiled wheat acci-dentally was left to stand, they tried again.Unknowingly, they had “tempered” the wheat byletting it stand—a process now highly refinedbut unfamiliar at the time. The compressedwheat was flaked off the rollers with bladesdevised by Will, and the first cereal flakes werecreated.

Will convinced Dr. Kellogg not to grind upthe flakes further, but to serve them as they were,whole. At first the new food was supplied onlyto San patients but as orders came in from formervisitors “Granose” was packaged and sold by theSan food company. The Doctor, never much con-cerned with business matters, left to his brotherthe distribution of the new wheat-flake product.

Dr. Kellogg and others did not seem tobelieve at the time that the business wassusceptible of being developed…I con-fess at the time I little realized the extentto which the food business might developin Battle Creek.

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Despite secrecy, the process for makingflaked cereals leaked out. Between 1900 and1905, dozens of wheat-flake companies sprangup—most in Battle Creek, for thanks to the Santhe city’s name had become synonymous withhealth. The Kelloggs did not want to lose theirhold in the market. Their work increasing, thebrothers had so little time that they combinedduties. Often the Doctor bicycled from his houseto the San while Will jogged beside him, swap-ping notes for the business day.

The two still were seldom eye-to-eye. Willconstructed a new factory for manufacturing Sanfoods, and when it was completed at a cost of$50,000, the Doctor claimed he had never autho-rized the outlay. He told Will to pay for the fac-tory himself. It was a severe blow, and eventual-ly Will paid the debt. But disagreements contin-ued to mount and finally in August 1901, Willemptied his desk, told the Doctor he could nolonger work for him and left the San’s employ.He remained with the Sanitas Food company fora few more years since it did not involve any cor-porate connection with his brother.

The Executive

“I Was Green”

Battle Creek was in the middle of a breakfastcereal boom. Forty-two companies sprang up tomake cereal foods and drinks. Only a few would

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survive, and Will Kellogg had the instinct andbusiness sense to join the winners—for he sawthe potential of the corn flake.

Before the turn of the century, Will alreadyhad experimented with that grain. It tooklengthy experimentation before the right combi-nation of ingredients and the most efficient man-ufacturing equipment were found. In 1906, W.K.Kellogg launched his own new company, andwhen Kellogg’s® Corn Flakes became an immedi-ate breakfast success, it was a surprisingly cre-ative achievement in the life of a man already 46years old.

“Kellogg Company” was not to be the corpo-ration’s official name until 1925, but already thecereal-eating world was familiar with the red-inked words on Sanitas packages: “Beware ofimitations. None genuine without this signature.W.K. Kellogg.” Now those words appeared onpackages produced in Will’s own factory, madepossible by selling stock through a formerSanitarium patient who trusted Will Kellogg.

“I was green when I started the business,”Will was to confess, but he taught the jobbers athing or two about promotion, advertising andword of mouth. While promoting Sanitas foods,Kellogg had delivered samples door to door. Hetouted his new Toasted Corn Flakes similarly,determined to outdo the opportunists who hadrushed into Battle Creek on his coattails. It was-n’t just a money-making venture, as one ofKellogg’s long-time associates recalled: “Mr.Kellogg believed that in furnishing corn flakesand other products to the people, he was per-forming a health service.”

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Independence Day in 1907 brought early dis-aster to the new company. The factory on BartlettStreet was destroyed by fire—a loss of $60,000.For any other Battle Creek entrepreneur, it mighthave spelled the end. But, while production con-tinued at a secondary plant, Will Kellogg rusheda Chicago architect to the scene and plans for amodern, fireproof cereal factory were preparedbefore the ruins had stopped smoking.

The fire is of no consequence. You can’tburn down what we have registered in themind of the American woman.

A key to the company’s success was, ofcourse, in advertising. Kellogg’s publicity budgetgrew as rapidly as production expanded,because he believed in firm identification of agood product, never a hard sell. Courage provedto be the strongest cornerstone. When WallStreet collapsed in 1929 and brokers were ledge-leaping, Kellogg shrugged confidently and dou-bled his advertising budget: “This is the time togo out and spend more money in advertising.”

He was right. The Kellogg Company, certainthat Americans would eat breakfast—especiallya breakfast of low-cost cereals—was scarcelyaffected by the Depression.

There were legal problems, however. Dr.John H. Kellogg felt he was somehow the Kelloggand that Will’s signature on cereal packagesimplied that the famous Doctor endorsed them.The elder Kellogg even went about setting up hisown Kellogg Food Company. The brothers hadno compunctions about suing each other, andthe resulting litigation not only culminated invictories for Will Kellogg, but near-total estrange-ment between the two men. It was a rift that

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would last until the end of their lives, both at theage of 91. The brothers saw little of each other intheir final years. In 1943, Dr. Kellogg sent a con-ciliatory note to his brother, acknowledging thatWill had been wronged in many ways, but thenote’s delivery was delayed. The Doctor diedbefore Will saw it.

Success and Tragedy

“Kind Providence”

There came the day that the company trea-surer was asked to go over Kellogg’s personalledgers and put them in better shape. Returning,the treasurer said to his boss, “Well, these booksindicated that you are worth a million dollars.”

“I am no such thing,” W.K. gasped. He lookedover the figures, and conceded the facts. “Well, Inever expected to be worth that much.”

In the early days we passed through manystrenuous times and had many anxioushours, not always knowing where fundswere coming from to take care of the nextweek’s payroll. I never, at any period ofmy life, aspired to become wealthy, butthe fierce competition perhaps developeda fighting spirit, and in the effort to secureour share, the business has succeeded. Itis my hope that the property that kindProvidence has brought me may be help-ful to many others, and that I may befound a faithful steward.

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Will Kellogg’s charities were legion, and it ishard to truly calculate them. His home was opento friends and relatives who were down on theirluck, and many visits to homes of ill friendsended in unsolicited financial help.

His way of making others happy perhapscompensated for having failed to lead an “aver-age” life at home. To his family, he had been anautocrat. He had raised his children as sternly ashe had been. Because he had had little time tospend with his wife and children—building asuccessful firm had been an all-consuming goal—barriers came up between himself and others inhis household. W.K. was to regret this deeply inlater years, particularly after the death in 1912 ofhis wife, Ella. For some years he refused to marryagain, for fear of making another woman unhap-py. Yet in 1918 he met and married a distin-guished San physician, Dr. Carrie Staines.

Meanwhile, the Kellogg Company dealtresponsibly and judiciously with its employees.By 1927 a nursery was in operation at the plantfor children of female workers. A medical anddental clinic looked after the children, and adietitian watched over their nourishment. TheDepression renewed his concern for his employ-ees, and more shifts were created so more familymen could be hired. President Herbert Hooversaw potential in the experiment for a nationwideprogram, and summoned Kellogg to the WhiteHouse for a discussion. Kellogg also providedfunds for constructing a ten-acre park on thegrounds of the Battle Creek plant to providework for those who didn’t have a paycheck.

As one of his bequests, Kellogg gave 21,400shares of company stock in 1944 to a Twenty-

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▲ W.K. Kellogg’s “Big House” was 500 feet abovePomona Valley (California) and overlooked the 800-acre Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch. He took particularpride in the beauty of his Arabian colt twins, Calamyrand Calamyra.

▼ As he later did with his homes, in 1932 Kellogg gaveaway his $3 million Arabian horse ranch for public ser-vice use. Below are shown Comedian Will Rogers,Governor James Rolph of California, and Mr. Kellogg ata ceremony during which the ranch was given to theUniversity of California. The property was used by theUnited States government during World War II as anArmy Remount Station and now is the Pomona campusof California State Polytechnic University.

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As his company prospered, Kellogg purchased homesin Florida and Michigan, and a ranch in California.In World War II he donated the two homes for publicservice use. Pictured above is the Dunedin Isleshome, north of Clearwater, Florida, and below is theGull Lake estate near Battle Creek, Michigan.

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▲ In 1930, Mr. Kellogg established the W.K. KelloggFoundation and soon thereafter made it the benefi-ciary of personal assets valued at $45 million. Until1967, the Foundation’s staff was housed on twofloors of “The Inn,” a Battle Creek apartment housebuilt by Mr. Kellogg in 1924. Kellogg maintained anapartment at The Inn. Because he suffered from glau-coma the last 14 years of his life, he owned severaldogs.

▲ W.K. Kellogg maintained an office in theFoundation’s headquarters. Because of his concernfor the health and education of children, he wasintrigued by the Michigan Community HealthProject. and unobtrusively attended many of themeetings with citizen leaders.

▼ For more than a decade during the 1930s, the W.K.Kellogg Foundation operated the MichiganCommunity Health Project (MCHP). It was a pioneer-ing effort which demonstrated in seven Michigancounties that the family’s health, educational oppor-tunities, and general standard of living could beenhanced through public health services, and child-hood medical screening and care, together with anextensive program of school improvement, expandedlibrary services and general community development.

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▲ Comprehensive programs, involving millions ofdollars in Foundation aid, were aimed at giving hos-pital and public school administrators opportunitiesfor advanced education. For example, theFoundation initiated an effort that would eventuallyinclude strengthening graduate and postgraduatecourses in 38 schools of medicine, dentistry andnursing in the United States and Canada.

▼ Kellogg shunned the limelight and often refused totake public credit for his financial support of com-munity projects. Here, a candid camera shot catcheshim comfortably lost in the crowd during a ceremonydedicating the auditorium which he gave to the Cityof Battle Creek.

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Mr. Kellogg’s personal gifts, and support from theKellogg Foundation, also have benefited nearly everyaspect of life in Kellogg’s home town of Battle Creek,Michigan. Such efforts at community bettermenthave included the Ann J. Kellogg School (above left),named after W.K.’s mother, which has long been anational model of mainstreaming the education ofhandicapped children into a regular K-12 school sys-tem. Others included a bird sanctuary, forest andexperimental farm (lower left), a junior high schooland auditorium (above), and the Kellogg CommunityCollege (below).

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W.K. Kellogg in the late 1920s.

Five Year Fund to assist veteran employees infinancial need. The workers were part of his “fam-ily,” in a sense, and he lavished attention on them.

In his own home, the strength and wisecounsel were there, but the pocketbook tendedto remain shut. “Above all things,” Will Kelloggwrote to his son Karl, “I want that my sonsshould develop into conscientious and truthfulmen, and even should you never be able toacquire a large amount of money, I shall appreci-ate the attributes of sincerity, honesty and trust-worthiness above all other things.”

Kellogg hoped that other members of his fam-ily would take up the business, but even that storyis laced with personality clashes and tragedy. Thefirst catastrophe occurred when Kenneth, daugh-ter Beth’s first child, fell accidentally from a sec-ond-story window onto a concrete driveway.Despite his wealth, there was little Kellogg coulddo for the permanently injured boy.

The establishing of the Foundation wasdue in part to the fact that although I wasamply able to pay the medical and surgi-cal bills for Kenneth, I found it almostimpossible to obtain adequate treatmentfor him during the first ten or twelve yearsof his life. This caused me to wonder whatdifficulties were in the paths of needyparents who seek help for their childrenwhen catastrophe strikes, and I resolvedto lend what aid I could to such children.

While this event may have been one of thesparks that eventually created the W.K. KelloggFoundation, the material that fed the flames layin Kellogg’s confirmed belief that it was improperto leave a great fortune to one’s children.

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Dollars have never been known to pro-duce character, and character will neverbe produced by money.

W.K.’s son, John Leonard—known generallyas “J.L.”—began work for the company in 1908and was factory superintendent by 1912. But J.L.had a strong personality like his father and even-tually resigned from the company in 1925. W.K.thereafter turned his attention to J.L.’s son, John,Jr. Unfortunately, clashes again ensued and John,Jr. set out on his own in the food industry, onlyto take his own life over a business failure.

So W.K. remained at the reins, retaining afirm grip over his company even when at hisCalifornia winter home. He eventually turnedcontrol of the company over to hand-pickedbusinessmen, but he would not slow his ownpace. He strove for the goals of his diversifiedinterests almost as ardently as he had worked tobuild his company.

Will Kellogg was also one of the firstAmerican entrepreneurs to recognize the poten-tial of international markets. He expanded hiscompany’s operations to Canada and Australiain 1924 and England in 1938. Today, the KelloggCompany has plants in numerous countriesaround the world.

Success such as this is always amazing whenone recalls that the driving force behind it was aman with little formal schooling, and this was afact of which Kellogg was always conscious. Ashe grew older, Kellogg sought the broadeninginfluence of travel and literature. Occasionallyhe would finance projects that were years aheadof their time, such as experiments in solar heat-ing. But most important was to be his search for

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an adequate way to dispense his vast fortune.This interest, perhaps, kept him going fordecades beyond the normal life span. AlthoughKellogg paid meticulous attention to his ownhealth, illness badgered him. He suffered fromglaucoma, an eye disease which leads to gradualimpairment of sight. During the last nine or tenyears of his life, Kellogg was totally blind. Herefused to be disheartened and instead kept hismind busy.

Yet Kellogg had his sad, introspectivemoments: “I would give all my money just to seethe sun and the green grass again.”

The Shy Benefactor

“I Am a Selfish Person”

At one time John Preston Kellogg ownedwhat was claimed to be an Arabian horse, an ani-mal which his son Will deeply loved. When hisfather sold the horse, brokenhearted Will vowedhe would someday own a whole stable of suchsteeds.

As usual, Will was as good as his word. Withhis corporate wealth, Kellogg over the yearsacquired horses and built stables near his 19-room villa atop a small California mountain.This became the 800-acre W.K. Kellogg ArabianHorse Ranch, five miles from the city of Pomona,California.

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In 1932, Kellogg gave the $3,000,000 ranchto the University of California, which operated itfor almost a decade as the W.K. Kellogg Instituteof Animal Husbandry. The property later wasused by the United States government duringWorld War II as an Army Remount Station andnow is the Pomona campus of California StatePolytechnic University. The ranch also has playeda great part in perpetuating the Arabian horse inAmerica. The breeding and training of the horsesis still an important part of the University’s edu-cational program. Kellogg himself enjoyed ridingto the property’s far reaches until an accident andsome narrow escapes convinced him to end hisriding days. Instead, he went hiking.

Kellogg loved dogs, and in 1927 acquiredRinson, a son of the famous dog hero of film, RinTin Tin. Rinson was the first of three Germanshepherds which made Kellogg’s later years hap-pier and easier, serving as bodyguards, guidesand faithful friends.

In 1934, Kellogg bought a villa at DunedinIsles, just north of Clearwater, Florida. This homeand his estate at Gull Lake north of Battle Creekalso were made available for use by the U.S. mil-itary in World War II. The Dunedin Isles homewas eventually sold by the Foundation. The GullLake estate was given to Michigan StateUniversity and is now used as a biological exper-iment station and for off-campus agriculturaleducation programs.

The real reason for making these propertiesavailable for public service during the war is typ-ical of Kellogg: He felt it was sinful for his house-hold to live in luxury while others scrimpedthrough years of rationing. He disposed of manyfrills such as boats and automobiles, for the mantle

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of wealth had never rested comfortably on hisshoulders. He enjoyed the finer things, but hispuritanical conscience often assailed him overso-called selfish indulgences. To his mind, it wasall right to spend money on others.

In 1909, Kellogg wrote “If I am successful ingetting out of debt and become prosperous in mybusiness affairs, I expect to make a good use ofany wealth that may come to me.” His early per-sonal philanthropies were both spontaneous andvaried. They included assistance to rural teach-ers, for British children orphaned by war, to aidthe blind, and for a number of hospital and med-ical programs.

In 1925, Kellogg asked three friends to over-see the Fellowship Corporation, an agencywhich he created to distribute almost $1 millionand which was a forerunner to the establishmentof a foundation of much greater scope five yearslater. Yet, even with such considerable contribu-tions to public needs, Kellogg was still some-what at a loss over how most effectively to rein-vest his money in people.

It has been much easier to make moneythan to know how to spend it wisely.

Kellogg’s love of children and talent for orga-nization finally shaped an agency that wouldhave a full-time trusteeship over specified goals—an agency that would require an expert, profes-sional staff.

Kellogg summoned Dr. A.C. Selmon, anAdventist medical missionary who had helpedhim through a bout with pneumonia during avisit to China. Selmon became the Foundation’sfirst president, and received specific advice:

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I want to establish a foundation that willhelp handicapped children everywhere toface the future with confidence, with health,and with a strong-rooted security in theirtrust of this country and its institutions.

In June 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Child WelfareFoundation was organized, then reorganizedjust two months later as the W.K. KelloggFoundation. Kellogg had realized that by servingchildren principally, the Foundation would helpthe world at large. President Herbert Hooverinvited Kellogg to assist in a White House con-ference on Child Health and Protection, influ-encing Kellogg’s early concept of his foundationat a time when national needs were so stronglyfelt. “I don’t want to restrict you in any way,” hetold his new staff. “Use the money as you pleaseso long as it promotes the health, happiness andwell-being of children.”

Relief, raiment and shelter are necessaryfor destitute children, but the greatestgood for the greatest number can comeonly through the education of the child,the parent, the teacher, the family physi-cian, and the community in general.Education offers the greatest opportunityfor really improving one generation overanother.

Through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust,Kellogg made the Foundation beneficiary ofassets valued at approximately $45 million(largely stock in the Kellogg Company). WithWill Kellogg as counsel, his Foundation was ledby action. Dusty ideas were shelved in favor ofsoundly advised, practical concepts which couldbe implemented directly.

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Kellogg supported the Foundation’s earlyemphasis on the application of existing knowl-edge to the problems of people. That commit-ment was reflected during the 1930s in theMichigan Community Health Project (MCHP)—apioneering effort that demonstrated in sevenMichigan counties that the family’s health, edu-cational opportunities, and general standard ofliving could be enhanced through public healthservices and childhood medical screening andcare, together with an extensive program ofschool improvement, expanded library servicesand general community development.

To say that W.K. was intrigued by the MCHPwould be an understatement. He maintained anoffice in the Foundation’s headquarters at BattleCreek and unobtrusively attended many of themeetings with citizen leaders. He had longbelieved that the “forgotten child” of Americawas not exclusively in the poor areas of cities butalso in rural communities where socio-economicimprovements were slow to be realized.

After World War II, during which theFoundation temporarily revised its program todirect resources to the war effort, the organiza-tion shifted its focus from the direct action ofMCHP to primarily financial assistance to insti-tutions, communities and individuals.

Kellogg refused to dictate goals and direc-tions, although he might grumble occasionallyover the high cost of philanthropy (“Why is itnecessary to use the long-distance telephone togive away money?”).

Kellogg’s international outlook for his com-pany was equally evident in the Foundation’sprogramming. Fellowships for study in the

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United States had been granted to nationals ofother countries by the Foundation since 1937.Immediately after World War II the Foundationbroadened its areas of concern to include all ofthe United States, Canada and Latin America.

Toward the end of the 1930s, comprehensiveprograms, involving millions of dollars inFoundation aid, were targeted on giving hospitaland public school administrators opportunitiesfor advanced education. During these years, theFoundation also initiated an effort that wouldeventually include strengthening graduate andpostgraduate courses in 38 schools of medicine,dentistry and nursing in the United States andCanada.

In all the Foundation’s endeavors, Kelloggremained behind the scenes, avoiding the lime-light. He would have to be cajoled into attendingceremonies marking his gifts, and if he attendedat all, he would sit in the back row, out of view.

Any success of the Foundation is due tothe trustees and the staff. They had thevision. I only supplied the funds.

Through his early personal philanthropies,and the foundation which bears his name, near-ly every aspect of community life in Kellogg’shome town of Battle Creek has benefited. Ann J.Kellogg School, named after W.K.’s mother, haslong been a national model of mainstreaming theeducation of handicapped children into a regularK-12 school system. Kellogg Community Collegehas received millions of dollars in grants for edu-cational facilities and programs. Battle Creek pub-lic and private schools have been aided instrengthening academic programs, providinginservice training for teachers and administrators,

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and using new instructional technology in theclassroom. A youth building, Family Y Center andchild guidance clinic represent but a few of the otheryouth-oriented beneficiaries of Kellogg support.

The cultural and educational life of the com-munity has been enhanced through Kellogg assis-tance for a civic center/arena, an auditorium, acivic arts center addition, a zoo, and for the W.K.Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, Experimental Farm, andForest. Area hospitals, libraries and other humanservice agencies have all been aided in their effortsto improve the health and well-being of area citizens.

The Foundation’s major work, however, liesin the world at large. In more than half a centuryof helping people help themselves, theFoundation supports programs in the UnitedStates, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and thesouthern African countries ofBotswana, Lesotho,Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, andZimbabwe.

Long before his death, Kellogg was resigned tohis inevitable passing. In 1933 he gave instructionsfor a simple funeral where “the expenses shouldnot exceed $500.” He had no idea he would livefor many more years, and remain active in the cor-poration and Foundation he so loved.

In 1946, however, Kellogg declined re-elec-tion to the company’s board of directors. Thebreak was never complete and the pioneer workethic dogged him even as he made the Foundationhis last driving interest. On his ninetieth birthday,the Battle Creek factory unit presented him with a45-year pin, and Kellogg responded with unchar-acteristic tearfulness: “I don’t deserve it. After all,I don’t work there anymore.”

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The second Mrs. Kellogg died in February1948. John L. Kellogg, W.K.’s son, died unexpect-edly of a cerebral hemorrhage. A year later, W.K.’sbeloved sister, Mrs. Clara Butler, also died. Thosewho knew Will saw him age considerably fromthat point, and his ninety-first year was marked by illnesses and rallies. He had the strength to visitthe office he maintained at the Foundation and to attend his sister’s funeral, but by mid-September he had to return to the hospital. Veryquietly, in the midafternoon of October 6, 1951, he died, and his ashes were buried shortly there-after in Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, the city he had helped to make “The Cereal Capital ofthe World.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The WK. Kellogg Foundation was establishedin 1931) “In help people help themselves.” Overthe years, the Foundation’s programming hasevolved, and has sought to remain innovative andresponsive to the ever-changing needs of society.

As a private grantmaking organization, theFoundation provides financial assistance to orga-nizations and institutions that have identified and analyzed problems, and have designed con-structive and practical solutions. The Foundation encourages these solutions to beadapted by those who face similar problems elsewhere, so that the “ripple effect” can benefitother individuals and communities. Its program-

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ming tocuses on the application of knowledge,rather than research.

Today, the WK. Kellogg Foundation is among the world’s largest foundations in terms of assets, annual grants, and total giving.

To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These are: health, food systems and ruraldevelopment, youth and education, and philan-thropy and volunteerism.

To further its effectiveness, the Foundationseeks to learn from the knowledge, experiences,and lessons learned by its projects as they applyto: leadership, information and communicationtechnology, capitalizing on diversity, and socialand economic community development.

The Foundation awards grants in the UnitedStates, Latin America and the Caribbean, and sixcountries in southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho,Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, andZimbabwe.

To learn more about the Foundation’s pro-gramming and grant application procedures,please write to:

W.K. Kellogg FoundationP.O. Box 550Battle Creek, Michigan U.S.A. 49016-0550

Or, visit our Web site at: www.wkkf.org.

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One Michigan Avenue East Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058 USA616-968-1611TDD on siteTelex: 4953028Facsimile: 616-968-0413Internet: http://www.wkkf.org

W.K.KELLOGGFOUNDATION

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