Henry Clay and Helen Frick

Henry Clay Frick grew up in a family of limited means, but by age thirty he had become a millionaire and a key player in the industrial devel-opment of the United States. Recognizing steel as the principal building material of the future, Frick amassed his fortune first by supplying coke—fuel made from coal—to the steel industry and later by partnering with Andrew Carnegie to create
the world’s largest steel company. A cutthroat businessman who opposed labor unions, Frick was aggressive in making his operations more efficient. In 1892, during a violent confrontation with steelworkers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, he called in private security guards and the state militia to break the union’s resolve. Seven workers and three guards died in the conflict.

Frick bequeathed much of his fortune to his daughter Helen, shown here, who funded several cultural organizations, most notably New York City’s Frick Collection and Art Reference Library.