Frank Hadley Ginn
From KCpedia
Frank Hadley Ginn, (born 25 Feb. 1868-died 6 Feb. 1938), corporation lawyer and patron of Music and Art, was born in Fremont, Ohio to Francis Marion and Millicent Ophelia Pope Ginn. He earned his Ph.B. from Kenyon College (1890). Coming to Cleveland in 1890, Ginn studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1892. In 1899, he became a member of Blandin, Rice & Ginn, which joined with Kline, Tolles & Morley in 1913 to form Tolles, Hogsett, Ginn & Morley. Appearing in court infrequently, Ginn worked in his office building a wide holding of stocks and connections. He was reportedly an officer or on the board of more companies than anyone else in Ohio, although he made few public appearances and had little open involvement in politics. However, he was intimately involved with many of Cleveland's powerful financial figures, including the Van Sweringen brothers.
Ginn was an active music and art patron, although most of his activities received no public recognition as he studiously avoided publicity. Ginn was a founder and officer of the Musical Arts Association. and a prime mover in founding the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland String Quartet, as well as being a financial supporter. He was chairman of the building committee for Severence Hall and on the Cleveland Committee of the Northern Ohio Opera Association. Privately, Ginn gathered a large collection of paintings and tapestries. Ginn married Cornelia Root on 25 June 1899 and had 2 sons, Francis and Alexander, and 2 daughters, Mrs. W. Powell Jones and Barbara Root Ginn.
Frank H. Ginn and Kenyon
at the college's centenray commencement in 1928, Ginn with William Nelson Cromwell were key benfactors in providing the finds to complete Peirce Hall. During the banking crisis of 1933, Ginn financed a faculty commitee to increase the College's enrollment. He was a key donor in bulding the Alumni House in 1937, and he financed for a bout ten eyars a series of annula performances in Gambier of the Cleveland String Orchestra.
Sources
- Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
- Greenslade, Kenyon College: Its Third Half Century, pp. 19, 39, 70, 232
