Everest and Jennings facts for kids
| Industry | Mobility equipment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930s |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri |
Everest & Jennings was a company that made special equipment to help people move around. They were famous for being the first company to make lots of wheelchairs for many people.
Contents
The Start of Everest & Jennings
How the Idea Began
The company was started by two friends, Herbert A. Everest and Harry C. Jennings Sr. Both were engineers. Herbert Everest had a disability after a mining accident in 1918.
In the early 1930s, wheelchairs were very big and heavy. Herbert Everest told his friend Harry Jennings that they needed something better. So, in 1933, they worked together in Jennings' garage. They designed a new kind of wheelchair. It was lightweight and could fold up! They received a special patent for their design in October 1937.
Growing the Company
Soon, the two friends started a business to make their improved wheelchair. In the 1940s, they helped many soldiers who were injured in World War II. The government bought their wheelchairs for these veterans. This made Everest & Jennings a well-known name in equipment for people with disabilities.
The Everest family sold their part of the company in 1943. However, Harry Jennings Sr.'s son, Gerald Jennings, became the main leader in 1952. He led the company until he retired in 1985. In 1956, Everest & Jennings was also the first company to make electric wheelchairs for many people.
Later Years and Changes
Moving and New Ideas
By 1992, Everest & Jennings was facing some money problems. They had lost some of their market share. So, they moved their main office from Camarillo, California to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1993, they bought another company called Medical Composite Technology. This company worked with a strong, light material called carbon fiber.
Becoming Part of Another Company
In 1996, Everest & Jennings was still having trouble with money and sales. They announced that another company, Graham-Field Health Products, would buy them. Graham-Field soon closed the Everest & Jennings factory in Earth City, Missouri. Today, Graham-Field still sells wheelchairs using the Everest & Jennings name.
Famous Users of Their Wheelchairs
Many well-known people used Everest & Jennings wheelchairs. These included former United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Ed Roberts and other members of a group called the Rolling Quads used Everest & Jennings power chairs. The author Joni Eareckson Tada once wrote that if a statue were made of her, she would want her Everest & Jennings power chair to be a main part of it. The actor Christopher Reeve also used an Everest & Jennings wheelchair after he became quadriplegic in 1995.
