Henry E. Bothin, Philanthropist of Steel

Henry E. Bothin, Philanthropist of Steel is the story of a complex man who arrived in San Francisco in the 1870s a penniless teenager and then prospered in the fast pace of his adopted city. Mr. Bothin dared to jump feet first into a nascent west coast steel industry and, at the same time, invested heavily in commercial real estate, ultimately becoming the largest individual commercial landowner in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. Henry’s hard-nosed approach to business was offset by his heartwarming generosity toward underprivileged children and his support of efforts to eradicate tuberculosis. He used his success to fund one of the first private foundations in the state, the Bothin Foundation, which continues to be a major force in Bay Area philanthropy, carrying on Henry’s work and his well-deserved legacy.