EASTMAN, GEORGE

born July 12, 1854, Waterville, N.Y., U.S. died March 14, 1932, Rochester, N.Y. American manufacturer whose introduction of the first Kodak (a coined word that became a trademark) camera helped to promote large-scale amateur photography. After his education in the public schools of Rochester, Eastman worked briefly for an insurance company and a bank. In 1880 he perfected a process for making dry plates for photography and organized the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company for their manufacture. The first Kodak, placed on the market in 1888, was a simple, hand-held box camera containing a 100-exposure roll of paper stripping film. The entire camera was sent back to the manufacturer for developing, printing, and reloading when the film was used up. In 1889 Eastman introduced transparent film and in 1892 reorganized the business as the Eastman Kodak Company (q.v.). Eight years later he introduced the Brownie camera, intended for use by children. It sold for one dollar. By 1927 Eastman Kodak had a virtual monopoly of the photographic industry in the United States, and it has continued to be one of the largest American companies in its field. Eastman gave away half his fortune in 1924. His gifts, which totaled more than $75,000,000, went to such beneficiaries as the University of Rochester (of which the Eastman School of Music is a part) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also one of the first owners to introduce profit sharing as an employee incentive. Eastman died by his own hand.