Franklin Walter Olin (January 9, 1860 – May 21, 1951) was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and professional baseball player. He was the founder of

Olin Corporation Olin Corporation is an American manufacturer of ammunition, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide. The company traces its roots to two companies, both founded in 1892: Franklin W. Olin's Equitable Powder Company and the Mathieson Alkali Works. Acciden ...

and Franklin W. Olin Foundation. Olin was born in Woodford, Vermont, and his father built mills and waterwheels.

College and professional athletics

Frank Olin - Toledo Blue Stockings - 1884

Olin studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, entering in 1881, where he also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. While at Cornell, Olin was a well-regarded student athlete; he played both outfield and second base for the varsity baseball team, served as captain of the rifle team, rowed with the

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

, and set school records in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. The Cornell baseball team won the State Intercollegiate League pennant twice while Olin played there, and they occasionally played against professional teams. Olin also assisted in the management of Cornell's athletics; he served as president of the Athletic Association and as a member of the Cornell Athletic Council, designed and managed the school's first batting cage, and invented a custom curved baseball bat which he claimed aided in hitting curve balls. Before graduating, Olin briefly played professional baseball. As a professional baseball player, Olin played at least 49 games over two seasons, mostly in 1884. That year, he played for three teams, the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

team for the American Association (21+ games) and their team for the Union Association (one or two games), and later the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American As ...

(26+ games). In 1885, Olin played at least one game for the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the ...

, in which he played somewhat poorly, effectively ending his career. Olin batted left-handed, and mostly played outfield positions. In this relatively short professional career, Olin played quite well, earning a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .316 over 177

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

, and a

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

of .800.

Career and later life

After graduating from Cornell with the class of 1886, Olin worked in several jobs before founding a

blasting powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

mill construction business, the F. W. Olin Company, which would eventually become the

. The company's first mill opened in East Alton, Illinois, in 1892. He married Mary Mott Moulton of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, on May 28, 1889. Olin and Mary moved to

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...

around 1890, where Olin would live until his death. They had three sons, Franklin W. Jr. (predeceased), John, and Spencer, all three of whom also graduated from Cornell. He formed the

Western Cartridge Company The Western Cartridge Company was an American manufacturer of small arms and ammunition formerly based in East Alton, Illinois. Founded in 1898, it was the forerunner of the Olin Corporation, formed in 1944, of which Western was absorbed into. ...

in 1898 to manufacture

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

; during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he diversified into

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

making for use in cartridge shells. In 1931 Olin acquired the

Winchester Repeating Arms Company The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...

. His management of the several inter-related businesses has been described as "autocratic," characterized by close personal management of the enterprise and a fairly secretive attitude toward sales information and trade secrets, due especially to the businesses' rivalry with

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

. In 1944 (after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

), the businesses consolidated into a single "Olin Industries," and Olin retired from management of the firm, leaving it to his sons

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Spencer. Olin died in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, in 1951. A portion of his fortune was willed to the Franklin W. Olin Foundation, which endowed numerous buildings and professorships in his name at college campuses across the United States. In 1997, the foundation established

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Olin College of Engineering, officially Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, is a private college focused on engineering and located in Needham, Massachusetts. Its endowment had been funded primarily by the defunct F. W. Olin Foundation. Th ...

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...

References

External links

Olin CorporationAbout Olin College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olin, Franklin Walter American businesspeople Engineers from Illinois 1860 births 1951 deaths People from Madison County, Illinois People from Bennington County, Vermont Cornell Big Red baseball players Toledo Blue Stockings players Washington Nationals (AA) players Washington Nationals (UA) players Detroit Wolverines players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball outfielders St. Paul Apostles players Oswego Sweegs players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Oswego Starchboxes players Baseball players from Vermont Cornell University College of Engineering alumni

College and professional athletics

Career and later life

See also

References

External links