Whitehall Lecture Series - "An Unlikely Titan of Commerce: J. C. Penney"

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State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia

James Cash Penny

The Annual Whitehall Lecture Series presents “Unlikely Titans of Industry & Commerce: From Modest Beginnings to Phenomenal Success,” at 3:00 p.m. each Sunday from February 4th to March 10th. Experts and authors will speak about the Titans that were responsible for some of the most successful business ventures built from the ground-up. When possible, each lecture will be followed by a book signing with the author.

J. C. Penney, a fixture of suburban shopping malls, started out as a small-town Main Street store that fused its founder’s interests in agriculture, retail business, religion, and philanthropy. David Kruger’s presentation will bring to light the little-known agrarian roots of an American department store chain and explore how the company, and their famous founder shaped rural America throughout the twentieth century, and provides a new perspective on this American cultural institution, and its founder’s unique brand of American capitalism.