Editing Stuart Symington (section)

==Education and business career==
Symington was born in [[Amherst, Massachusetts]], the son of Emily Kuhn ([[Name at birth|née]] Harrison) and William Stuart Symington Jr.<ref name ="UMS Symington 1973">{{cite web | url=https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C3874.pdf | title =Symington, Stuart (1901-1988), Scrapbooks, 1945-1976 3637 1 folder, 37 volumes on 6 rolls of microfilm | author =University of Missouri | author-link =University of Missouri | publisher =shs.umsystem.edu | date =May 25, 1973}}</ref> His father, who received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]] in [[French literature]], was a [[Romance languages]] professor at [[Stanford]] and [[Amherst College]] before pursuing a law career and becoming a federal judge in [[Baltimore, Maryland]].<ref name ="Olsen2003p4">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJavIyHYVwwC&pg=PA9 | title =Stuart Symington: A Life | author =James C. Olson | author-link =James C. Olson | author2 =University of Missouri Press | author2-link =University of Missouri Press | pages =4 | isbn =978-0826215031 | year =2003| publisher =University of Missouri Press }}</ref> His mother came from a prominent Maryland family.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Browne |first1=William Hand |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCgUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Charles+Kuhn+Harrison+1847&pg=PA383 |title=Maryland Historical Magazine |last2=Dielman |first2=Louis Henry |date=1915 |publisher=Maryland Historical Society. |language=en}}</ref>
Symington grew up in Baltimore, and was the oldest of his five brothers and sisters.<ref name ="Olsen2003p4"/> Symington attended Roland Park Public School and the [[Gilman School]], a private all-male [[University-preparatory school|preparatory school]] in Baltimore's [[Roland Park]] neighborhood.<ref name ="Olsen2003p4"/> He graduated from [[Baltimore City College]] in 1918, and at the age of 17, Symington enlisted in the [[United States Army]] as a [[private first class]] during World War I.<ref name="USAFBio">{{cite web | url =http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio_print.asp?bioID=7011&page=1 | title =W. STUART SYMINGTON Served as secretary of the Air Force from Sept. 18, 1947 to April 24, 1950 | author =United States Air Force | author-link =United States Air Force | publisher =af.mil | date =May 20, 2013 | archive-url =https://archive.today/20130626170915/http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio_print.asp?bioID=7011&page=1 | archive-date =June 26, 2013 | url-status =dead | df =mdy-all }}</ref>

Stationed in an Officer Training Program at [[Camp Zachary Taylor]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], Symington was never deployed to fight in World War I, with the war ending before he could seek deployment.<ref name ="Olsen2003P9">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJavIyHYVwwC&q=Stuart+Symington+born+to+Emily+Haxall+Harrison+Symington&pg=PA4 | title =Stuart Symington: A Life | author =James C. Olson | author-link =James C. Olson | author2 =University of Missouri Press | author2-link =University of Missouri Press | pages =9 | isbn =978-0826215031 | year =2003| publisher =University of Missouri Press }}</ref> Symington was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]], becoming one of the youngest members of the Army to achieve that rank; being discharged as a second lieutenant in January 1919.<ref name ="USAFBio"/>

He graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1923. At Yale he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] fraternity (Phi chapter), the [[Elihu (secret society)|Elihu senior society]], and served on the board of the ''[[Yale Daily News]]''. In 1924, he married the former Evelyn Wadsworth in a lavish ceremony attended by President Coolidge and other prominent politicians.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/12/15/w-stuart-symington-former-senator-air-force-secretary-dies-at-age-87/0e5e650e-d1a0-4141-b0e5-aff365c7dc03/|title=W. STUART SYMINGTON, FORMER SENATOR, AIR FORCE SECRETARY, DIES AT AGE 87|date=1988-12-15|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> By all accounts, the two had a very happy marriage and were known for their devotions and faithfulness to each other, both of which were not always present among the social elite. When Evelyn died in 1972, Symington was devastated, telling his biographer that "he never knew this much loneliness could be around."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJavIyHYVwwC&q=wife+died+1972|title=Stuart Symington: A Life|last=Olson|first=James C.|date=2003|publisher=University of Missouri Press|isbn=9780826264596|language=en}}</ref>

In 1923, Symington went to work for an uncle in the shops of the Symington Company of [[Rochester, New York]], manufacturers of malleable iron products. Two years later he formed Eastern Clay Products but in 1927 returned to the Symington Company as executive assistant to the President.

Symington resigned in 1930 to become President of the Colonial Radio Corporation. In January 1935, he accepted the presidency of Rustless Iron and Steel Corporation (manufacturers of [[stainless steel]]) but remained a director of Colonial Radio Corporation.

When Rustless Iron and Steel Corporation was sold to the [[AK Steel Holding|American Rolling Mill Company]] in 1937, Symington resigned and in 1938 accepted the presidency of [[Emerson Electric Company]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. During World War II he transformed the company into the world's largest builder of airplane [[gun turret]]s. Symington, who was an active proponent of racial justice ("All Americans should have their chance") integrated the Emerson Electric work force, which resulted in increased productivity.<ref name="ArmyHistIntS">{{Cite web |url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/cmhPub_50-1-1.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908032718/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/cmhPub_50-1-1.pdf
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=September 8, 2015
|title=Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940–1965 
|last=MacGregor |first=Morris J Jr. |work=Defense Studies 
|quote=As president of the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company of St.Louis, he had racially integrated a major industry carrying out vital war work in a border state, thereby increasing productivity. When he became secretary, Symington was immediately involved in the Air Force's race problems; he wanted to know, for instance, why only nine black applicants had passed the qualifying examination for the current cadet program. (page 339)
|date=1981 |access-date=December 16, 2021}}</ref>