George Eastman

George Eastman did not marry and so did not have any family of his own. He was however, very close to his sister’s family and had a platonic relationship with Josephine Dickman, the wife of his business associate George Dickman.

He was also very close to his mother Maria Eastman, who had brought him up almost single handedly. When Maria died in1907, George was inconsolable and could not stop crying. Kilbourn Theater, located within Eastman Theatre in Rochester, has been dedicated to her memory

In the last two years of his life, George Eastman suffered from some kind of spine disorder, which was not only painful, but was slowly making him disabled. On March 14, 1932, George committed suicide by shooting himself through his heart. In his parting note, he had written, “Dear Friends, my work is done – Why wait? GE”. He was later buried at Kodak Park in Rochester and his entire estate went to the University of Rochester. The Eastman House, where he lived is now a National Historic Landmark.

George Eastman was born in Waterville New York on July 12, 1854 and spent his early childhood in a large farm owned by his parents, George Washington Eastman and Maria (Kilbourn) Eastman.

His father George Washington also ran an educational institute, Eastman Commercial Collage, in Rochester. It required him to split his time between Rochester and Waterville. Consequently, young George was left in the care of his mother most of the time.

Later in 1860, as his health began to deteriorate, George Washington gave up the farm and moved his family to Rochester. Unfortunately, he died in 1862, leaving his three children under the care of their mother. To make the ends meet Maria Eastman began to take in boarders.

Eastman also had two older sisters, Ellen Maria and Katie. Katie was afflicted with polio at a very young age and was confined to wheelchair. She died in 1870 leaving her family distraught.

Young Eastman was studying in a public school in Rochester. However, due to monetary constraint he could not finish his schooling. At the age of 15 or 16, he left school to take up the job of an office boy in an insurance company. However, he continued his education privately and in 1877, he became a book keeper at Rochester Saving Bank.

Although the job of the book keeper solved his financial problems to some extent, George Eastman strived for more. He soon decided to take up the real estate and by 1877 he had saved enough money to take the first step.

At that time, Hispaniola, located in the Caribbean, was undergoing a boom in land speculation. George Eastman decided to go there and investigate for himself. To document his visit, he bought a camera. However, the trip failed to materialize; but the camera remained with him.

Very soon Eastman became an avid photographer. In those days, taking photos was a cumbersome affair. Cameras were big and the wet plate technology used those days was also very clumsy. Neither was the dry plate technology that was just being evolved very convenient. Inspired by British Journal of Photography, he began to improve on it. George Monroe and George Selden, from whom he learnt much about photography, also encouraged him in this endeavor.

Eastman began experimenting at home and very soon invented a method in which glass plate were coated with gelatin and silver bromide. He had the coating machine and the method patented in England in 1879. He also applied for the same in the USA in September, 1879; but it was issued in April 1880. He next sold his English patent to open a plate manufacturing unit in Rochester.

Eastman next thought of replacing the glass plate with paper. He had it coated with gelatin and other photographic chemicals. The film so made was then rolled on spools. Next, he replaced the paper with transparent film. He had both these products patented in 1884.

Invention and manufacture of roll film and the Kodak camera are the two major works for which George Eastman is remembered even today. These inventions enabled common people to take up photography as a hobby.