Bird W. Housum
Bird White "B.W." Housum (1860 – March 25, 1927) was an American merchandise broker, businessman, and government official based in Cleveland, Ohio. He founded B. W. Housum & Company and became active in the wholesale grocery and commission industries. During World War I, Housum served as an administrator of the United States Food Administration, where he was chief of the Brokers Section, senior trade advisor, and the federal government's wartime cannery czar.
Early life
Housum was born in 1860 in Piqua, Ohio. He moved with his parents to Cleveland in 1866 and was educated in the city's public schools.
At the age of fifteen, Housum began working for George A. Stanley, a Cleveland oil dealer. He worked as a salesman and gained experience in the oil trade.
Career
Business Career
In 1885, Housum entered business for himself as a representative of the oil department of Armour and Company. In 1889, he and a partner organized B. W. Housum & Company.
The business was reorganized in 1893. Grace & Housum continued as a general oil concern, while the incorporated B. W. Housum Company operated as a merchandise brokerage and commission business. The latter represented several large manufacturers, including the American Sugar Refining Company, the Postum Cereal Company, Armour and Company, and the Fels-Naptha Soap Company. Housum later held the role of senior partner of the Houson-Kline Company.
Housum remained active in the wholesale food industry and served as president of the Ohio Wholesale Grocers Association from 1904 to 1908. He was also a member of the advisory board of the Citizens Savings and Trust Company.
Federal service
On October 1, 1917, Housum joined the Distribution Division of the United States Food Administration, which had been established to regulate and conserve the country's food supply during World War I. He initially served on the staff of division chief Theodore Whitmarsh, and later worked directly for Herbert Hoover. His responsibilities included maintaining contact with merchandise brokers across the United States and coordinating their participation in campaigns for food conservation and more economical distribution.
Housum subsequently acted as chief of the division's Brokers Section and as a trade advisor. He remained with the Food Administration until January 15, 1919. An official history of the agency credited him with helping to secure the cooperation of merchandise brokers with the agency's wartime programs. He was described as "practically the canned food dictator of the country."
In the 1920s, Housum served on the legislative committee for the National Canned Foods and Dried Fruit Brokers Association.
Personal life
Housum married Ada Weber in 1882. They had one son, Charles Robert Housum.
He was a Baptist and affiliated with the Republican Party. Housum was a 32nd-degree Freemason and belonged to Woodward Lodge No. 508, the Lake Erie Consistory, Oriental Commandery, and Al Koran Temple of the Shriners. Housum was described as having a forceful personality and considerable executive ability. Although aggressive in business, he was characterized as cautious, reserved and courteous.
His other affiliations included the Royal Arcanum, National Union, Royal League, Cleveland Commercial Travelers, Ohio Society of New York, and several Cleveland social organizations, including the Union, Tavern, Country, and Roadside clubs.
Death and legacy
Housum died in 1927.
His son, Charles Robert Housum, later provided funds for the establishment of the Bird White Housum Professorship at Yale University. The professorship, created in 1987, bears his father's full name. The Cleveland Museum of Art has maintained a fund bearing his name, reflecting his connection with Cleveland cultural philanthropy.