EDUCATORS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Why Kemmerer , Wyoming Matters — Part 2
By Brian Grinder and Dan Cooper
It was 1933 , and J . C . Penney was excited to return to the small town of Kemmerer , Wyoming , where it had all started . Throughout his life , Penney drew comfort and encouragement from his visits to Kemmerer . In his later years , he wrote , “ It is impossible for me to adequately express how I feel toward the Kemmerer store , for it was there that I found myself . Every night I thank God for the opportunity that was given me there . Little did I dream , when I opened the Kemmerer store , that it would someday be known as the ‘ mother ’ store of nearly 1,700 stores bearing my name .”
The United States was mired in the Great Depression , and while the JC Penney Company itself had weathered the storm quite nicely , J . C . Penney , the man , had suffered physically , mentally , emotionally and financially . In his eagerness to participate in philanthropy , Penney chose to borrow money using his JC Penney stock as collateral to fund Penney Farms , an Institute of Applied Agricultural ; and Memorial Home Community , a retirement facility for ministers , missionaries and YMCA / YWCA workers . The ag institute was created to help those who had been chosen to live at Penney Farms eke out a living on their 20-acre plots of stubborn Florida soil .
The man is to be forgiven for his overly optimistic view of the future . For since the inauspicious founding of his retail empire , rapid growth and success were the norm . Everyone was optimistic about the future of the company . Penney biographer David Kuger points out that , “ while Penney had built his business on the idea of paying cash and avoiding credit , he increasingly relaxed that policy for himself when it came to funding his massive philanthropic projects . Five New York City banks ultimately loaned him the money to carry out his activities at Penney Farms , Memorial Home Community and Emmadine Farm [ Penney ’ s Guernsey dairy business ].” In all , Penney borrowed between $ 7 and $ 8 million to fund his philanthropic activities using his JC Penney stock as collateral .
DeGolyer Library , SMU
That banks could fail in a city of fabulous values and promise ; that a free economic system — which enabled me with my partners to build a company such as the JC Penney Company , whose foundation seemed to me so solid as to be everlasting — could see values wither away like parched grass , was a new experience , new knowledge for me . That my moral responsibility and personal character could be attacked — these events brought me to the brink of a real unknown .
J . C . Penney poses with his prize-winning Guernsey cow after winning the 1928 Peer Cup award .
Prior to the Great Depression , Penney was so optimistic about the economic future of Florida that he purchased a controlling share in City National Bank of Miami . In 1928 , Penney became the bank ’ s chairman of the board . Heavy withdrawals in December 1930 forced City National to close its doors . Earlier in the year after the Bank of Bay Biscayne closed , Penney personally guaranteed City National depositors against loss . Unfortunately , the run on City National occurred at a time when the value of JC Penney stock was plummeting . Several of the banks that had lent Penney money started selling the JC Penney stock he had put up for collateral
— James Cash Penney
to cover his loans . According to Kruger , the bank guarantees “ saddled Penney with a $ 3 million personal loss ,” while his philanthropic debts exceeded $ 7 million . Penney ’ s personal fortune of about $ 40 million was all but wiped out .
Although deeply depressed , Penney continued to travel throughout the country checking in on JC Penney stores . In Battle Creek , Michigan , Penney ran into a childhood friend , Dr . Elmer Eagleston , who was shocked at Penney ’ s appearance . Eagleston diagnosed Penney with shingles and insisted that Penney check himself into the Kellogg Sanitarium , where Eagleston worked , and rest for a while . Penney stayed for about two weeks under sedation but was growing restless . One evening , in a state of great agitation , Penney convinced himself that he would not live to see the morning . Waking up shortly after dawn , Penney decided to get some breakfast . However , when he arrived at the dining hall , it was not yet open . Hearing music coming from the chapel , he wandered in , sat down in the back row and listened to prayer meeting participants sing an old hymn from Penney ’ s childhood . Something miraculous happened to Penney in that chapel setting . Years later , Penney wrote of this experience , “ As though I had been pinned to earth up till then by an intolerable weight , I felt the burden lifting from my body and spirit , I sat there scarcely daring to breathe . I felt I was passing out of darkness into light .”
A few days later , a revitalized Penney checked out of the sanitarium and resumed
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