Company: Eastman Chemical

Leo pulls out a faded photograph—Henry at his lab bench in 1930, grinning beside a jar of clear liquid.

Henry never intended to stay in Kingsport. Like most young men in the foothills of the Appalachians, he had one foot out the door, dreaming of Detroit’s assembly lines or the jazz clubs of Chicago. But his father, a foreman at the new “Eastman” plant, had given him a piece of advice: “Son, don’t chase smoke. Learn to make something solid from it.” eastman chemical company

So Henry stayed. He became a lab assistant. Leo pulls out a faded photograph—Henry at his