Charles Rudolph Walgreen (October 9, 1873 – December 11, 1939) was an American businessman and the founder of

Walgreens Walgreens is an American pharmacy store chain. It is the second largest in the United States, behind CVS Pharmacy. As of March 2025, the company operated more than 8,700 stores in the U.S. Walgreens has been the subject of a number of lawsuit ...

Background

Walgreen was born on a farm near

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...

before moving to

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 15,274 as of the 2020 census. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the Rock River (Mississippi River ...

, in 1887. He was the son of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants. In the 1790s, Charles's great-great-great-grandfather, Sven Olofsson, adopted the surname ''Wahlgren'' () during his military service, a family fact passed down over the generations. When Charles's father, Carl Magnus Olofsson, came to America from Sweden, he decided to change the family name to ''Walgreen''. When Charles was still quite young he and his family relocated to

, in 1887. He attended Dixon High School and Dixon Business College. He was a member of the international fraternity

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

. As a young adult, he lost part of a finger in an accident at a shoe factory. The doctor who treated him persuaded him to become an apprentice for a local druggist. His interest in pharmacy dated from the time he was employed by D.S. Horton, a druggist in Dixon where he was apprenticed as a pharmacist. In 1893, Walgreen went to Chicago and became a registered pharmacist. At the start of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Walgreen enlisted with the 1st Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. While serving in Cuba, he contracted

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and yellow fever, which continued to plague him for the rest of his life.

Career

After his discharge, Walgreen returned to Chicago and worked as a pharmacist for Isaac Blood. In 1901, he opened a second store in 1909 and by 1916 owned nine drug stores, which he incorporated as Walgreen Co. Walgreens was one of the first chains to carry non-pharmaceuticals as a mainstay of the store's retail selection. Walgreens offered low-priced lunch counters, built its own ice cream factory, and introduced the malted milk shake in 1922. By 1927, Walgreen had established 110 stores. His son

Charles Rudolph Walgreen Jr. Charles Rudolph Walgreen Jr. (March 4, 1906 – February 10, 2007) was an American businessman who was the president of Walgreens from 1939 until 1963 and the chairman of the board from 1963 until 1976. Biography He was born on March 4, 1906, i ...

(March 4, 1906 – February 10, 2007) and grandson Charles R. Walgreen III both shared his name and played prominent roles in the company he founded. His daughter, Ruth Walgreen, married Justin Whitlock Dart, who left the Walgreens company after they divorced and went on to control the rival

Rexall Rexall was a chain of American drugstores, and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1903, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across t ...

Drug Stores in 1943.
Ruth, in her adult years a published poet, eventually remarried and began spending winters in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, where in the early 1960s, she was instrumental in establishing the Poetry Center at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. He is a member of the Labor Hall of Fame.

References

Sources

*Griffin, Marie. ''Industry 'Legends' Deserve Recognition'' (Drug Store News, October 9, 1995) *Ingham, John N. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983) *Van Doren, Charles, ed. ''Webster's American Biographies'' (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1979)

External links

Walgreens Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walgreen, Charles Rudolph 1873 births 1939 deaths People from Knoxville, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois American anti-communists American people of Swedish descent American businesspeople in retailing 20th-century American pharmacists American company founders Walgreens people Methodists from Illinois