Year Honored: 1983
Birth: 1900 - 1940
Biography
Cecile Long Steele turned an accidental delivery into a now-multibillion dollar industry. In 1923, Steele’s order of 50 chicks had mistakenly been heard as 500. At the time, chicken was a rural food, with farmers raising chickens for their eggs and only making a meal out of them when the hen got too old for laying. Steele’s quick thinking had her building a larger chicken coop and fattening up the birds before selling them for $.62 a pound. Her business was helped by the thriving economy in the 20s, that left families with excess money to spend on meats, as well as improvements in transportation, the rise of chain grocery stores, and advancements in refrigeration.
In 1924, Steele placed a purposeful order for 1000 chicks, and in 1926, increased her flock to 10,000. Her husband, David Wilmer Steele, quit his steady job with the U.S Coast Guard to join his wife in the broiler chicken business. Their neighbors in Ocean View, Delaware recognized the Steele’s success, and began joining in on the business revolutionizing agriculture in Delaware. Delaware farmers, like the Steele’s, had faced years of financial hardships as several diseases like peach blight and strawberry fungus, had ravaged what had previously been staple crops in the region.
Chicken had become a staple in the American Diet, and in 1925, at least 10 million broiler chickens were being raised in Delaware. The commercial poultry industry remains one of Delaware’s biggest cash crops today. Many farmers are contracted through the Perdue company, and most of the crops in Delaware, particularly corn and soybeans, are for chicken feed.
The Steele’s saw much success in their broiler business. They bought a yacht in the mid-1930s, a brand-new house, and David Wilmer Steele was elected to the State Senate. Unfortunately, in October of 1940, the Steele’s took several guests out on their yacht, and set off an accidental explosion. Though the guests survived, both Steele’s were killed.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Cecile Ann Long Steele (1900-1940) - find a grave... Find a Grave. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26935053/cecile-ann-steele
Munroe, J. A. (2006). History of Delaware. University of Delaware Press.
Ocean View Delaware Historical Marker. Historical Marker. (2021, July 9). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=37175
Secrets of the Eastern Shore. (2020, July 31). Character of the day: The Delaware housewife who invented the modern chicken industry. Secrets of the Eastern Shore. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.secretsoftheeasternshore.com/character-cecile-steele/
