Henry Clay Frick

Henry Clay Frick, who lived from 19 December 1849 to 2 December 1919, was an American industrialist, financier and art patron who founded the H. C. Frick and Company coke manufacturing firm and later became chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company. His management of Carnegie Steel was marked by fierce opposition to labor unions, most notably his violent suppression of the 1892 Homestead Strike, and later in his career he helped found U.S. Steel, which became the world's largest steel manufacturer. Outside the steel industry Frick was a major investor with extensive real estate holdings across Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, and as a founding member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club he bore substantial responsibility for the alterations to the South Fork Dam whose failure caused the catastrophic 1889 Johnstown Flood. After retiring from business Frick oversaw construction of the Frick Mansion in Manhattan, now a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and he bequeathed his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the Frick Collection art museum.