Joseph Brown Whitehead (1864–1906) was a lawyer, who, along with Benjamin Thomas and

John Thomas Lupton John Thomas Lupton (1862–1933) was an American lawyer, industrialist and philanthropist who along with Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, obtained exclusive rights from Asa Candler to bottle and sell Coca-Cola. Early life Lupton was born n ...

, obtained exclusive rights from

Asa Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-C ...

to bottle and sell

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Early life

Whitehead was born in Oxford, Mississippi in 1864. He was the son of Richard H. Whitehead (1836–1912), a Baptist minister in Mississippi, and Mary Amanda Conkey Whitehead (d. 1869). His younger brother was Henry Parsons Whitehead. He attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

and graduated with a degree in law.

Career

In 1899, Whitehead and Thomas met with Candler. Candler gave the two exclusive rights to bottle the soft drink. After this meeting, Lupton partnered with them and he became the president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

Personal life

In 1895, he married Lettie Pate and then the couple moved to

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

. Whitehead died unexpectedly in 1906 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. After his death, his widow took over "her husband's share of the bottling business, as well as his real estate interests," and "established the Whitehead Holding Company and the Whitehead Realty Company to manage her assets and those of her two sons."

Legacy

Because of the philanthropy of his widow, Joseph Brown Whitehead has been the namesake for three health buildings on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The original building, built in 1911, has since been renamed the Chapin Building, while the Joseph Brown Whitehead Building currently serves as the home for the campus health services.

References

External links

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Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Joseph Coca-Cola people 1864 births 1906 deaths Mississippi lawyers Tennessee lawyers People from Oxford, Mississippi People from Chattanooga, Tennessee University of Mississippi alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia American drink industry businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American philanthropists