Arthur Perdue

Arthur W. Perdue was the founder of Perdue Farms[3] along with his wife Pearl in 1920.[4] The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens,[4] but eventually grew into a $4.1 billion company.[5]

Arthur W. Perdue
Born(1885-08-08)August 8, 1885[1]
DiedJune 27, 1977(1977-06-27) (aged 91)[2]
Salisbury, Maryland[2]

Family and background

In the 1600's, Henri Perdue, a Huguenot, left France for the Province of Maryland to escape religious persecution.[6] Perdue settled in what is now Wicomico and Worcester Counties and his descendents continue to live in the area.[6]

Perdue was born in 1885 as the second of three children to Levin and Martha Perdue in Worcester County.[1] His parents were devout and strict Methodists.[1]

Career

In 1915, Arthur Perdue worked as a Railway Express agent[7] in Salisbury, Maryland.[8] By 1920, Perdue noticed that the chicken farmers on the Delmarva peninsula that were making money had shifted from selling chickens to selling table eggs.[9] Perdue quit his job at the railroad and established his own commercial table-egg farm a few miles east of Salisbury, Maryland.[9]

Perdue began focusing on quality and brought in Leghorn breeding stock from Texas to improve the quality of his flock.[7] He then expanded his egg market, including to New York.[7]

Legacy

The Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland, is home to the Delmarva Shorebirds baseball team, a class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League.[10]

The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation was established to support the communities where Perdue Farms has facilities.[11]

In 2017, the farmhouse Perdue built in 1917 and lived in was added to the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.[12]

Further reading
  • Gordy, Frank (1976). A Solid Foundation: The Life & Times of Arthur W. Perdue.

References
  1. Biography, The Perdue Family. A&E Television Networks. 2005. pp. 5:10. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. "Arthur W. Perdue, Founder of Poultry Concern in Maryland". New York Times. 28 June 1977. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. Schmetterer, Bob (2003). Leap: A Revolution in Creative Business Strategy. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 72–76. ISBN 978-0-471-22917-9.
  4. "Business Timeline: 1920s". Perdue Farms. 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  5. "About Us". Perdue Farms. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  6. Omo-Osagie, Solomon Iyobosa, II (2012). Commercial Poultry Production on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore: The Role of African Americans, 1930s to 1990s. University Press of America. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. Rubenson, George C.; Shipper, Frank M. (2001). Integrative Case 12.0: Perdue Farms. Salisbury University. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. Sloan, Judy; Perdue, Frank (September 1, 2003). "Frank Perdue Perdue Farms: I Turned My Father's Tiny Egg Farm Into A Poultry Powerhouse And Became The Face Of An Industry". CNN Money. CNN. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  9. Williams, Henry H (1998). Delmarva's Chicken Industry: 75 Years of Progress (PDF). Georgetown, Delaware: Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0966761804. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. Tilghman, Mary K. (2004). Frommer's Maryland & Delaware, 6th Ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 282. ISBN 978-0-7645-7379-8.
  11. Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation 2019 Annual Report (PDF). 2020. p. 3. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  12. Dinsmore, Christopher. "Perdue farmhouse added to state historical registry". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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