Philip Armour
(May 16, 1832–Jan. 6, 1901)

Chicago’s reputation as “Hog Butcher for the World” is due largely to Armour, builder of Chicago’s largest meatpacking company, and also a philanthropist. Armour resisted trade unions and helped defeat strikes. His chief philanthropic interest lay in training young people. Armour Mission, a nondenominational community center, sponsored classes and activities for children. Armour Institute, later changed to Illinois Institute of Technology, taught engineering, architecture, and library science at nominal cost and would eventually welcome noted architects Mies van der Rohe and László Moholy-Nagy to the faculty.

photo and text by Joe Collier