- Will Keith Kellogg
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name = Will Keith Kellogg
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caption = Will Keith Kellogg
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birth_date =April 7 ,1860
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death_date =October 6 ,1951 (aged 91)
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nationality = U.S.
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footnotes = |Will Keith Kellogg, usually referred to as W. K. Kellogg (
April 7 ,1860 –October 6 ,1951 ) was a U.S. industrialist in food manufacturing.Early career
As a young businessman Kellogg started out selling brooms, before moving to
Battle Creek, Michigan to help his brotherJohn Harvey Kellogg run theBattle Creek Sanitarium . Together they pioneered the process of making flakedcereal . Because of the commercial potential of the discovery, Will wanted it kept a secret. John, however, allowed anyone in the sanitarium to observe the flaking process and one sanitarium guest,C. W. Post , copied the process to start his own company. The company becamePost Cereals and laterGeneral Foods , the source of Post's first million dollars. This upset Kellogg to the extent that he left the sanitarium to create his own company.Kellogg cereals
With the help of his brother John, Will Kellogg promoted cereals, especially
corn flakes , as a healthy breakfast food. They started the Sanitas Food Company around 1897, focusing on the production of their whole grain cereals. At the time the standard breakfast for the well off was eggs and meat, andporridge , farina,gruel and other boiled grains, for the poor. The brothers eventually argued over the addition of sugar to their product. In 1906 Will founded the "Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company", later becoming theKellogg Company .In 1930 he established the
W. K. Kellogg Foundation , ultimately donating sixty million dollars to it. His company was one of the first to put nutrition labels on foods. He also offered the first premium for kids to send in for. Kellog said "I will invest my money in people".During the
Great Depression , Kellogg directed his cereal plant to work three shifts, each lasting 6 hours. This gave more people in Battle Creek the opportunity to work during that time.Arabian horse breeder
Kellogg had a long interest in
Arabian horse s. In 1925, he purchased convert|377|acre|km2|1 for $250,000 inPomona, California to establish an Arabian Horse Ranch. Starting with breeding stock descended from the imports ofHomer Davenport and W.R. Brown, he then looked toEngland , where he purchased a significant number of horses from theCrabbet Arabian Stud , making multiple importations during the 1920s. The Kellogg ranch became well-known in southern California not only for itshorse breeding program, but also for its entertaining weekly horse exhibitions, open to the public, and frequent visits by assortedHollywood celebrities. Among many other connections to Hollywood, the actorRudolph Valentino borrowed the Kellogg stallion Jadaan for use in the 1926 movie "Son of the Sheik". [ Roeder, Walter H. [http://www.csupomona.edu/~library/LibraryInfo/special/historydocs/Jadaan.html "Jadaan, The Sheik, and the Cereal Baron" Originally published in "The Cal Poly Scholar," vol.1, (fall 1988) p.99-103] ]In 1932, Kellogg donated the ranch, which had grown to 750 acres (3 km²), to the
University of California system. DuringWorld War II , the ranch was taken over by the U.S. War Department and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount).In 1948 the ranch was transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in 1949 it was deeded to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Later in 1949, title to the then convert|813|acre|km2|1|sing=on ranch and horses was passed to the State of California with the provision that the herd of Arabian horses must be maintained. The ranch became part of the Voorhis unit of what was then known as the California State Polytechnic College in San Luis Obispo. This became known as the Kellogg campus, and in 1966, it separated to form California State Polytechnic College Pomona (now
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona ). [ [http://www.csupomona.edu/cpp_history.php History of Cal Poly Pomona] ] [ [http://www.csupomona.edu/~wkkahl/ W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library] ]Some of Kellogg's property near
Battle Creek, Michigan was donated toMichigan State College and is now theKellogg Biological Station .Death
Will Keith Kellogg died in Battle Creek, MI at 3:00pm on October 6 1951 by heart failure. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=W.K. Kellogg, 91, Dead in Michigan. Breakfast Food Manufacturer Set Up Multi-Million Dollar Welfare Foundation in '30 |url= |quote=Will Keith Kellogg, founder of the breakfast cereal company that bears his name, died here today in Leila Hospital. The pioneer cereal manufacturer, known to millions by his breakfast food trade mark initials -- W.K. --succumbed at the age of 91 after a long circulatory illness. |publisher=
Associated Press inNew York Times |date=October 7 ,1951 , Sunday |accessdate=2008-03-28 ]Philanthropy
W. K. Kellogg is recognized as the founder of
Kellogg College, Oxford .References
*cite web | url = http://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=63&ItemID=3&NID=37&LanguageID=0 | title = W.K Kellogg Foundation: Founder
accessdate = 2006-10-06
*cite web | url = http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/kellogg.html | title = Inventor of the Week: Archive | accessdate = 2006-10-06 | publisher = Lemelson-MIT Program
*cite web | url = http://www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/mi_wkk.htm | title = Will Keith Kellogg - People of Michigan | accessdate = 2006-10-06 | publisher = NSTATE, LLC.
*cite web | url = http://www.kelloggs100.com/history.html | title = 100 Years: An Overview | accessdate = 2006-10-06 | publisher = Kellogg's CompanyNotes
External links
* [http://www.wikitree.org/index.php?title=John_Preston_Kellogg Genealogy wiki]
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