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{{Short description|American business executive}}
{{Infobox person
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| children = [[Bud Adams]]<br/>Mary Louise Adams<br/>Stephen Stanley Adams<br/>Kenneth Glenn Adams<br/>Gary Clark Adams<br/>Lisa Ann Adams<br/>Stephaine Lynn Adams
▲| resting_place = Memorial Park Cemetery
}}
'''Kenneth Stanley '''"'''Boots'''"''' Adams''' (August 31, 1899 – March 30, 1975) was an American [[business executive]], [[University of Kansas]] [[Boosterism|booster]], and [[city|civic]] [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]] of [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]]. Adams began his career with the [[Phillips Petroleum Company]] in 1920 as a clerk in the warehouse department. Twelve years later, he was chosen by founder and president [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]] to fill the newly created position of Assistant to the President. On April 26, 1938, Adams was elected president of Phillips Petroleum Company by the unanimous vote of the company's
Upon succeeding Frank Phillips as president, Adams, then 38 years old, became one of the nation's youngest leaders of a major corporation. He remained in continuous service as the company's [[CEO|chief executive]] until his retirement in 1964. Although he retired from company operations, Adams continued serving as its board chairman until 1968; finishing his affiliation as a board member from 1968 to 1970. During his tenure, Adams grew the business into a major corporation by investing in natural gas and synthetic rubber operations.
==Early life==
Kenneth Stanley Adams was born August 31, 1899, in [[Horton, Kansas]]
Adams graduated from [[Wyandotte High School]] in 1917, the same year brothers Lee Eldas "L.E." and [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]] founded the [[Phillips Petroleum Company]]. After graduating, Adams moved to [[Dewey, Oklahoma]] and started his first job. He delivered ice in the neighboring town of [[Bartlesville]]. Adams said he was happy that the work involved heavy lifting
On
==Career at Phillips Petroleum==
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Boots Adams first entered the executive tier in 1932. Phillips Petroleum Company's founding president, [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]], appointed Adams as his assistant. He was promoted despite opposition from executive staff, who considered Boots and Phillips to be an odd team. Frank Phillips was resistant to incorporating Adams' ideas.<ref name="ppchistory"/> Phillips instructed Adams: "I'm going to object to everything you do, but you go ahead and do it anyway."
Adams reconstituted [[Phillips 66ers|the company's amateur basketball team]]. Phillips had stopped sponsoring it after the 1929–30 season, because of the [[Great Depression|great depression]]. Adams personally recruited [[Joe Fortenberry]] and [[Jack Ragland]]; both of them were [[Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics|Olympians from 1936]]. He teamed them with [[Chuck Hyatt]], Tom Pickell, Jay Wallenstrom, and [[Bud Browning]]. Lastly, he recruited local favorites, Ray Ebling and Dave Perkins to complete the 1937 team.
The Phillips 66ers ended the season in first place. The team was favored to win the [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] tournament as well. Instead, Denver won the championship, 43–38, in [[Bartlesville]]. Columnist Chet Nelson called the game: "the greatest game Rocky Mountain fans ever witnessed."<ref name="bball"/> In 1958, Boots Adams was inducted into the [[Helms Athletic Foundation|Helms Foundation Amateur Basketball Hall of Fame]].<ref name="AutoCZ-1"/>
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According to Reference for Business, Phillips and Adams "often disagreed as to how the company should be run."<ref name="ppchistory"/><ref name="AutoCZ-2"/> Nevertheless, Adams was able to secure Frank Phillips' confidence, and the authority to move his ideas forward.<ref name="Auto7W-3"/><ref name="PSH"/>
At the 1938
===Years as company president===
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Adams employed graduates of a variety of scientific disciplines. He advocated that research and technical expertise was needed for companies to compete in the emerging technological society. One of the newly hired professionals was Jack Graves, a [[geologist]] from the [[University of Oklahoma]]. Adams tasked Graves to evaluate an oil formation known locally as the ''Mississippi Chat''. The evaluation resulted in a significant new discovery of oil. Phillips continued using the study over the following three years – striking a lot of new oil as a direct result.<ref name="MChat"/>
Adams also diversified the company into the [[petrochemical]] industry, creating an additional [[revenue stream]]. Newly hired [[chemical engineer]]s were used to research synthetic polymers (''specifically petroleum
With significant advancements in place, it was already possible to produce a material similar to rubber. It was however, inferior in quality, and cost
==== {{Anchor|U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program}}U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program ====
At the beginning of the US involvement in World War II, the supply of natural rubber from Southeast Asia was abruptly cut off. The government knew of the strategic importance of rubber and had instituted the {{anchor|Rubber Reserve Company}}[[Reconstruction Finance Corporation#Rubber Reserve Company|Rubber Reserve Company]] (RRC) to stockpile reserves of rubber to mitigate the consequences of being cut off from supplies. But the RRC
Boots Adams joined the [[consortium]], dedicating the resources of Phillips Petroleum Company to the effort dubbed [[Government Rubber-Styrene|GR-S (Government Rubber-Styrene)]].<ref name="DuDow"/> The program's success<ref name="Auto7W-5"/> was an achievement of high magnitude for the entire group of participants. On August 29, 1998, the GR-S, (also called the U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program), was officially labeled as a ''[[National Historic Chemical Landmarks|National Historic Chemical Landmark]]''.<ref name="AutoFA-1"/> Its records are stored in the archives of the [[University of Akron]] in [[Akron, Ohio]].
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Boots Adams retired from his position as company president in 1964, after 44 years with the company. The following year the city of Bartlesville organized a parade and civic holiday to honor Boots Adams on his 66th birthday – and give thanks with a public celebration. The schools in Bartlesville were closed and the town itself was officially renamed ''Bootsville'' for the entire day. A huge birthday cake was mocked up to resemble an oil storage tank, and the Phillips 66 logo ''"stood tall"'' in its own pair of boots.<ref name="Pres"/>
Several dignitaries were present as well including President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]];<ref name="Pres"/><ref name="UWP"/> as both a personal friend of Boots' and a U.S.
The President adopted the hobby of painting in 1950, as a relaxing way to reduce stress. He presented Boots Adams with a portrait he had recently painted – depicting Adams seated at the head of a table, as chairman of the
[[W. Clarke Wescoe]], the [[University of Kansas]]' (KU) 10th chancellor attended as well; thanking Adams for his alumnus support, and philanthropic
==Death and legacy==
Boots Adams died March 30, 1975, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and is buried at Bartlesville's Memorial Park Cemetery.
==References==
{{reflist
<ref name="ingham"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=qzxy3pejsdoC&pg=PA6 Ingham 1983
<ref name="LJW">Hitchcock, Doug (August 1983). <span class="plainlinks">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19830816&id=JZwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6883,3327749 The KU-Bartlesville connection]</span>. Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved June 5, 2013.</ref>
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<ref name="Auto7W-1"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMF0T6_1950_Adams_Building_Bartlesville_OK 1950 Adams Building Bartlesville OK]. waymarking.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</span></ref>
<ref name="ICEJ">(April 14, 2013). <span class="plainlinks">[http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/special-reports/making-history-industry.html Making history in industry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728230952/http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/special-reports/making-history-industry.html |date=2014-07-28 }}</span>. Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. Retrieved June 8, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Auto7W-2"><span class="plainlinks">[http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/living/columnists/city%E2%80%99s-birthday-coming.html City's Birthday is Coming]. examiner-enterprise.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</span></ref>
<ref name="TDOR16"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ASzB87IdUmcC&pg=PA13 Robbins 2001
<ref name="TDOR14"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ASzB87IdUmcC&pg=PA13 Robbins 2001
<ref name="Life (1947)"><span class="plainlinks">{{cite
<ref name="OUP"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=FhzFM466R2YC&pg=PA319 Knowles 1980
<ref name="TOMFP"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=RagBNuag-z4C&pg=PA380 Wallis 1988
<ref name="ppchistory"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Phillips_Petroleum_Company.aspx Phillips Petroleum Company]</span>. encyclopedia.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="bball"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=kHVGigFqcNkC&pg=PA58 Grundman 2004
<ref name="AutoCZ-1"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.oklahomaheritage.com/Portals/0/PDF%27s/HOF%20bios/Adams,%20K.S..pdf K.S. Adams].</span> oklahomaheritage.com. Retrieved August 20, 2014.</ref>
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<ref name="AutoCZ-2"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/74/Phillips-Petroleum-Company.html Phillips Petroleum Company - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Phillips Petroleum Company].</span> referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved August 17, 2014.</ref>
<ref name="Auto7W-3"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.onlyinbartlesville.com/cat/3/49 Bartlesville Means Business] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207071640/http://onlyinbartlesville.com/cat/3/49 |date=2013-12-07 }}</span>. onlyinbartlesville.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="PSH"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=tCOHneYPQAsC&pg=PA230 Penick 2007
<ref name="MChat">Ray, Russell (October 1, 2006). <span class="plainlinks">[
<ref name="Auto7W-4">
<ref name="DuDow">
<ref name="Butadiene"><span class="plainlinks">[http://etext.ku.edu/view?docId=ksrlead/ksrl.kc.learnedstanley.xml Photographs of Plains Butadiene Plant; a plant incorporating Phillips processes and designed, built and operated by Phillips Petroleum Company for the National Synthetic Rubber Program of World War II – with a bound volume of captioned photographic prints].</span> ku.edu. Retrieved July 13, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Grain v. Petrol">
<ref name="Auto7W-5">
<ref name="AutoFA-1">(August 29, 1998). <span class="plainlinks">"[http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/syntheticrubber.html U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program]"</span>. acs.org. Retrieved January 4, 2014.</ref>
<ref name="Auto7W-7">
<ref name="AutoAP-1"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.phillips66.com/EN/about/history/Pages/index.aspx Our History / Post World War II – 1960S]</span>. phillips66.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="AutoAP-2"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.wham-o.com/history.html The History of Wham-O] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218215421/http://www.wham-o.com/history.html |date=2013-02-18 }}</span>. wham-o.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="AutoAP-3"><span class="plainlinks">(April 18, 2000). [http://lubbockonline.com/stories/041800/bus_041800085.shtml Coin toss decides company name]</span>. lubbockonline.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="BBKSA"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=EJ5g4dTqGyIC&pg=PA90 Perkins 2008
<ref name="BBK95"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=EJ5g4dTqGyIC&pg=PA90 Perkins 2008
<ref name="Auto7W-9"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.bartlesvillehistory.com/pages/bartlesville_timeline Bartlesville Area History Museum/timeline/1962] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814110710/http://bartlesvillehistory.com/pages/bartlesville_timeline |date=2013-08-14 }}</span>. bartlesvillehistory.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Pres">
<ref name="UWP"><span class="plainlinks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=w7vUH72TB2IC&pg=PA495 Atta 2008
<ref name="Auto7W-11"><span class="plainlinks">[https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&q=eisenhower+box+1+k.s+boots.+adams&oq=eisenhower+box+1+k.s+boots.+adams&gs_l=hp.12...50883.56365.3.59456.6.6.0.0.0.0.113.580.3j3.6.0....0...1c.1.19.hp.9WAJz515HPc&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48705608,d.dmg&fp=43343ac3cffa9ab0&biw=1280&bih=597 Dwight D. Eisenhower ''Papers, Pre-Presidentual 1916–52'']</span> ''PDF''. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Auto7W-12"><span class="plainlinks">[https://www.ou.edu/content/housingandfood/residence_halls/adams_center/history.html Adams Center History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824110141/http://www.ou.edu/content/housingandfood/residence_halls/adams_center/history.html |date=2013-08-24 }}</span>. ou.edu. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
<ref name="100grand"><span class="plainlinks">[http://recreation.ku.edu/programs/adams_campus/history.shtml Adams Campus History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717043920/http://recreation.ku.edu/programs/adams_campus/history.shtml |date=2013-07-17 }}</span>. ku.edu. Retrieved July 11, 2013.</ref>
}}
==Bibliography==
* Ingham, John N. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders''. "Adams, Kenneth Stanley." (1983) Greenwood Press. {{ISBN
* Knowles, Ruth Sheldon (March 1, 1980). ''The Greatest Gamblers: The Epic of American Oil Exploration''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. {{ISBN
* Atta, Dale Van (February 28, 2008). ''With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace, and Politics''. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN
* Penick, Monica Michelle (2007). ''The Pace Setter Houses: Livable Modernism in Postwar America''. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest Publishing Company. UMI number 3290901
* Robbins, Louise S. (January 15, 2001). ''The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil Rights, Censorship, and the American Library''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. {{ISBN
* Wallis, Michael (1988). ''Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Of Phillips Petroleum''. New York, NY: Doubleday. {{ISBN
* Perkins, Scott W. (May 26, 2008). ''Building Bartlesville, (OK): 1945–2000''. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. {{ISBN
* Grundman, Adolph H. (October 1, 2004). ''The Golden Age of Amateur Basketball: The Aau Tournament, 1921–1968''. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN
==Further reading==
* Lobsenz, Norman M. (1965). ''The Boots Adams story''. Bartlesville, OK: Phillips Petroleum Company. {{ISBN
==External links==
* [http://brandondutcher.blogspot.com/2006/10/todays-oklahoma-history-lesson_04.html Photograph showing Boots Adams with Frank Phillips and Phillips' wife]
{{ConocoPhillips}}
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[[Category:U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program]]
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Oklahoma]]
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