Harold Fowler McCormick

Harold Fowler McCormick
Born (1872-05-02)May 2, 1872
Chicago, Illinois
Died October 16, 1941(1941-10-16) (aged 69)
Beverly Hills, California
Cause of death Cerebral hemorrhage
Employer International Harvester Company
Spouse(s) Edith Rockefeller
(m.1895–1921; divorced)
Ganna Walska
(m.1922–1931; divorced)
Children
  • John Rockefeller McCormick
  • Editha McCormick
  • Harold Fowler McCormick Jr.
  • Muriel McCormick
  • Mathilde McCormick
Parent(s) Cyrus Hall McCormick
Nancy Fowler
Relatives See McCormick family

Harold Fowler McCormick (May 2, 1872 – October 16, 1941) was an American businessman. He was chairman of the board of International Harvester Company and a member of the McCormick family.

Biography

Harold Fowler McCormick with his wife Edith Rockefeller (1895)

Harold Fowler McCormick was born in Chicago May 2, 1872, to inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809–1884) and philanthropist Nancy Fowler (1835–1923).[1][2] During the 1890s he competed in the US National Tennis Championships.[3] In 1895 he married Edith Rockefeller (1872–1932), the youngest daughter of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) and schoolteacher Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman (1839–1915). McCormick became the third inaugural trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation. He was also a trustee of the Rockefeller-created University of Chicago. He and Edith had five children before divorcing in December 1921:

As an officer of the Aero Club of Illinois, founded February 10, 1910, McCormick became the third president in 1912, following Octave Chanute and James E. Plew.[7][8]

In 1914, McCormick, Plew, and Bion J. Arnold attempted to form a commuter airline which they announced would begin service in May, "using seaplanes to ferry passengers between various North Shore suburbs and Grant Park and the South Shore Country Club. Lake Shore Airline, which had two seaplanes, was intended to be a profit-making venture charging a steep twenty-eight-dollar round-trip fare between Lake Forest and downtown Chicago on four daily scheduled circuits. However, Chicago's irregular weather, especially the crosswinds, made a shamble of schedules, and the airline disappeared before the end of the year."[9][10]

McCormick married Polish opera singer Ganna Walska in 1922.[11] They divorced in 1931.

During the transition period between these two women, McCormick sought to fortify himself by undergoing an operation by Serge Voronoff, a surgeon who specialized in transplanting animal glands into aging men with impotency.[12] He resided at 1000 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. McCormick became chairman of the board of International Harvester Company in 1935, replacing his older brother Cyrus Jr. (1859–1936).

McCormick died on October 16, 1941, of a cerebral hemorrhage, at his home in Beverly Hills, California.[2][13]

Legacy

Orson Welles claimed that McCormick's lavish promotion of Walska's opera career—despite her renown as a terrible singer—was a direct influence on the screenplay for Citizen Kane, wherein the titular character does much the same for his second wife.[14]:497 Samuel Insull, president of a utilities holding empire that included Commonwealth Edison, was another influence,[14]:49 along with William Randolph Hearst.[15]:78

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leander James McCormick (1896). Family record and biography. pp. 303–304.
  2. 1 2 "Harold McCormick Industrialist, Dies. Chairman of the International Harvester Co., Which His Father, Cyrus, Founded. Sponsored Successful Search for Scarlet Fever Antitoxin. A Supporter of Opera". New York Times. October 17, 1941. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  3. ↑ "The Sport In Which Millionaires Are Champions". Chicago Tribune. August 11, 1907. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Harold Fowler McCormick Jr.". Find a Grave.
  5. ↑ "Muriel McCormick". Find a Grave.
  6. ↑ "Mathilde McCormick". Find a Grave.
  7. ↑ Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN 0-87580-311-3, page 54.
  8. ↑ Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN 0-87580-311-3, page 56.
  9. ↑ Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1918; Harold F. McCormick, "From My Experiences Concerning Aviation," speeches of December 1 and 8, 1917, before the Psychological Club of Zurich, Switzerland, McCormick Collection, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison.
  10. ↑ Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN 0-87580-311-3, page 57.
  11. ↑ "Walska the Bride of H. F. McCormick. Wedded in Quiet Paris Ceremony, With Mr. and Mrs. Malone the Only Witnesses. Posting Of Banns Waived. Official Says Couple Gave an 'Immense Amount' to Poor. Union Illegal in Illinois". Associated Press in the New York Times. August 12, 1922. Retrieved 2012-09-04. Harold F. McCormick of Chicago, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Harvester Company, and Mrs. Alexander Smith Cochran, known to the music world as Mme. Ganna Walska, were married quietly today in the City Hall of the select Passy district of Paris.
  12. ↑ Grossman, Ron. (March 31, 1985) Chicago Tribune Lost lake shore drive: Mourning an era; Mansions of rich and famous yield to giant condos. Section: Real estate; Page 1.
  13. ↑ "Harold Fowler McCormick". Associated Press. October 17, 1941. Retrieved 2010-08-02. Harold Fowler McCormick, who passed on yesterday, was the son of Cyrus Hall McCormick, and former president and chairman of the board of International Harvester Co.....
  14. 1 2 Welles, Orson; Bogdanovich, Peter; Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1992). This is Orson Welles. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-016616-9.
  15. ↑ Estrin, Mark W. (editor) (2002). Orson Welles: Interviews. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-578-06209-6.

Further reading

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