Arthur Perdue
{{short description|American farmer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Arthur W. Perdue
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|08|08}}{{cite book |title=Biography, The Perdue Family |date=2005 |publisher=A&E Television Networks |pages=5:10 |url=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C1796609#:~:text=On%20August%208%20of%20that,of%20Levin%20and%20Martha%20Perdue. |access-date=20 July 2020}}
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|06|27|1885|08|08}}{{cite news |title=Arthur W. Perdue, Founder of Poultry Concern in Maryland |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/06/28/80343945.html?pageNumber=31 |access-date=20 July 2020 |work=The New York Times|date=28 June 1977}}
| death_place = Salisbury, Maryland
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Arthur W. Perdue (1885–1977) was an American businessman and the founder of Perdue Farms{{cite book
| last = Schmetterer
| first = Bob
| title = Leap: A Revolution in Creative Business Strategy
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons
| year = 2003
| location = Hoboken, New Jersey
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/leaprevolutionin0000schm/page/72 72]–76
| url = https://archive.org/details/leaprevolutionin0000schm
| url-access = registration
| isbn = 978-0-471-22917-9}} along with his wife Pearl in 1920.{{cite web
| title = Business Timeline: 1920s
| publisher = Perdue Farms
| year = 2008
| url = http://www.perdue.com/company/history/timeline_1920.html#timeline
| access-date = 2008-12-30}} The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens, but eventually grew into a $4.1 billion company.{{cite web
| title = About Us
| publisher = Perdue Farms
| year = 2008
| url = http://www.perdue.com/company/about/index.html
| access-date = 2008-12-30| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081219161825/http://www.perdue.com/company/about/index.html| archive-date= 19 December 2008 | url-status= live}}
Family and background
In the 1600s, Henri Perdue, a Huguenot, left France for the Province of Maryland to escape religious persecution.{{cite book |last1=Omo-Osagie |first1=Solomon Iyobosa II |title=Commercial Poultry Production on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore: The Role of African Americans, 1930s to 1990s |date=2012 |publisher=University Press of America |pages=7–8 |isbn=9780761858775 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-7zQ8MOcsoC&dq=%22Arthur+Perdue%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA7 |access-date=19 July 2020}} Perdue settled in what is now Wicomico and Worcester Counties and his descendants continue to live in the area.
Perdue was born in 1885 as the second of three children to Levin and Martha Perdue in Worcester County. His parents were devout and strict Methodists.
He married Pearl Parsons in 1917 and had one child in 1920, Frank Perdue.
Career
In 1915, Arthur Perdue worked as a Railway Express agent in Salisbury, Maryland.{{cite web |last1=Sloan |first1=Judy |last2=Perdue |first2=Frank| author-link2=Frank Perdue|title=Frank Perdue Perdue Farms: I Turned My Father's Tiny Egg Farm Into A Poultry Powerhouse And Became The Face Of An Industry. |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2003/09/01/350797/ |website=CNN Money |publisher=CNN |access-date=19 July 2020|date= September 1, 2003}} By 1920, Perdue noticed that the chicken farmers on the Delmarva peninsula that were making money had shifted from selling chickens to selling table eggs.{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Henry H |title=Delmarva's Chicken Industry: 75 Years of Progress |date=1998 |publisher=Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. |location=Georgetown, Delaware |isbn=0966761804 |pages=9–10 |url=https://www.dpichicken.org/about/docs/Chapter%201%20The%20Birth%20of%20an%20Industry.pdf |access-date=19 July 2020}} Perdue quit his job at the railroad and established his own commercial table-egg farm a few miles east of Salisbury, Maryland.
Perdue began focusing on quality and brought in Leghorn breeding stock from Texas to improve the quality of his flock.{{cite book |last1=Rubenson |first1=George C. |last2=Shipper |first2=Frank M. |title=Integrative Case 12.0: Perdue Farms |date=2001 |publisher=Salisbury University |isbn=1285401565 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oc0KAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Arthur+Perdue%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA625 |access-date=19 July 2020}} He then expanded his egg market, including to New York.
Legacy
The Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland, is home to the Delmarva Shorebirds baseball team, a class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League.{{Cite book
| last = Tilghman
| first = Mary K.
| title = Frommer's Maryland & Delaware, 6th Ed
| year = 2004
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/marylanddelaware00tilg/page/282 282]
| place = Hoboken, New Jersey
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons
| url = https://archive.org/details/marylanddelaware00tilg
| url-access = registration
| isbn = 978-0-7645-7379-8
}}
The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation was established to support the communities where Perdue Farms has facilities.{{cite book |title=Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation 2019 Annual Report |date=2020 |page=3 |url=https://corporate.perduefarms.com/pdfs/Perdue_Foundation_AR2019_PRINT.pdf |access-date=19 July 2020}}
In 2017, the farmhouse Perdue built in 1917 and lived in was added to the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.{{cite news |last1=Dinsmore |first1=Christopher |title=Perdue farmhouse added to state historical registry |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-perdue-farmhouse-20170822-story.html |access-date=20 July 2020 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun}}
References
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Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Gordy |first1=Frank |title=A Solid Foundation: The Life & Times of Arthur W. Perdue |date=1976}}
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