Darby Corporation (Kansas City, Kan.)

Harry Darby was born in 1895 in Kansas City, Kansas. While in high school, he trained as a boilermaker and later received a degree in engineering from the University of Illinois. He married Edith Cubbison, also of Kansas City, in 1917 before shipping off to join the Army in World War I, rising to the rank of captain. When he returned stateside, Darby returned to work as a boilermaker. After his father died, he borrowed a large sum of money in order to buy the Missouri Boiler Works Company. The company found business difficult during the Great Depression but survived, and Darby was able in 1940 to buy the Kaw Steel Construction Company and thereby merge it with his boiler company in order to form the Darby Corporation. The company performed a great deal of work for the U.S. armed forces during WWII. Harry Darby died in 1987. [Western Historical Manuscript Collection--Kansas City. "Harry Darby (1895-1987) Papers." http://web2.umkc.edu/whmckc/Collections/I0615KC.HTM (accessed 23 November 2009).]