Artist: Friedrich (“Fritz”) Werner (1898–1994)
William Henry Wood Prince
PRINCE, WILLIAM HENRY WOOD (1914–1998), inducted 1954
William H. “Billy” Wood was born in St. Louis, educated at Princeton, and served as an infantry captain in World War II, before adopting the Prince name and the extensive business interests of his distant cousin, Frederick Prince. William Wood Prince stepped into the positions of chairman of the International Live Stock Exposition and president and chairman of Chicago’s Union Stock Yards in 1949. His leadership was so valued that he was inducted into the Saddle & Sirloin Club just five years later. Billy Prince initiated many improvements at the stockyards, which was losing business as the industry shifted from rail to truck transportation. He built new truck loading docks and feeding pens, installed outdoor lighting and electronic scales, replaced swine chutes with stairs, improved sanitation, developed a manure composting factory, and raised the oversight of livestock handlers, to reduce animal bruising. Billy Prince also invested in existing facilities at the yards, renovating the Amphitheater to create the nation’s largest, air-conditioned exposition building in 1952.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 162