Frank C. Rand (February 25, 1876 – December 2, 1949) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He served as the President of the International Shoe Company, the world's largest shoe manufacturer,^[1][2] from 1916 to 1930, and as its chairman from 1930 to 1949.

Early life and family background

Frank C. Rand was born on February 25, 1876, in Red Banks, Mississippi.^[3][4] His father was Henry Oscar Rand and his mother, Ada Elizabeth Norfleet.^[3][5][6] One of his paternal great-grandfathers, John Rand (1786-1865), was a planter in Colbert County, Alabama, in the Antebellum South.^[7] Another paternal great-grandfather, Moses Carlock, was a large planter in Marshall County, Mississippi.^[8] His paternal grandfather, Jesse P. Norfleet, was a cabinetmaker from Suffolk, Virginia, who lived at the historic Dunvegan cottage in Holly Springs, Mississippi, until 1861.^[8]

Rand had two brothers, Jesse H. and Edgar Eugene, and two sisters, Eva Cornelia and Helen Octavia.^[3] He grew up on a cotton plantation in Red Banks.^[3] At the age of nine, he moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi, where his father was the co-founder of Rand, Johnson & Company.^[3]

Rand was educated in public schools in Holly Springs.^[3] He attended the Webb School, a preparatory boarding school in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, from 1890 to 1894.^[3] Its founder and namesake, William R. Webb, was one of his teachers.^[3] Rand enrolled at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1894, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1898.^[1][3][4] At Vanderbilt University, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.^[3]

Business career

Rand began his career as a stock clerk for the Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company in 1898.^[1] He became its Vice-President in 1907.^[1] When the company became known as the International Shoe Company in 1911, he remained as Vice-President.^[1] He then served as its President from 1916 to 1930, and as its chairman from 1930 to 1949.^[1][2] In 1928, as President, Rand reported strong, steady growth.^[9] The company, which became the world's largest manufacturer of shoes,^[1][2] eventually changed its name to Furniture Brands International.

Rand served on the boards of directors of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway,^[3] the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, the Mercantile-Commerce National Bank, the Union-Electric Company of Missouri, and the Mississippi Valley Barge Line Company.^[1] From 1942 to 1945, in the midst of World War II, he was the President of the Greater St. Louis War Chest.^[1]

Philanthropy

Rand was elected to the board of trustees of the Webb School in 1894.^[10] He served as its chairman from 1921 to at least 1940.^[3] Additionally, he paid for the construction of a new building for a dormitory on its campus.^[3]

Rand served on the Board of Trust of his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, from 1912 to 1949, and as its President from 1935 to 1949.^[4] He donated US$150,000 to the university in 1925.^[3] As President, he was the one who accepted the resignation of Chancellor James Hampton Kirkland in 1937,^[11] and installed chancellors Oliver Carmichael in 1938 and Harvie Branscomb in 1946.^[12][13]

Rand also served on the Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis from 1928 to 1940.^[1]

Rand served on the board of trustees of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri from 1917 to 1949, and as its chairman from 1923 to 1949.^[1] He donated US$300,000 to the hospital in 1928.^[3] His donation was matched by Jackson Johnson.^[3] As a result, the Rand-Johnson Memorial Building was named after their honor.^[1]

Rand was honored by the American Hospital Association and inducted into the Methodist Church Hall of Fame for his philanthropy.^[1]

Personal life

Rand married Nettie Lumpkin Hale, the daughter of British-born publisher Philip Henry Hale and a Vanderbilt University alumna, on October 5, 1904, in St. Louis, Missouri.^[3] They resided in a mansion located at 7100 Delmar Boulevard in University City, Missouri.^[14] They had six children,^[15] including Henry Hale Rand (1909-1962),^[16] and Laura Hale Rand Orthwein, 1938 Queen at the Veiled Prophet Ball and married to William R. Orthwein Jr.^[15]

Rand was a Methodist.^[3] He was a member of the Racquet Club of St. Louis, the St. Louis Country Club, and the Noonday Club, a private member's club in St. Louis.^[3] He was an avid golfer.^[3]

His wife donated the Nettie Hale Rand Collection of Fine Binding and Printing to the Jean and Alexander Heard Library in 1941.^[17]

Death and legacy

Rand died on December 2, 1949, at the Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.^[1]

Rand's mansion in University City, Missouri has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since September 11, 1980.^[18]

The dining hall on the campus of Vanderbilt University, Rand Hall, is named in his honor.^[4] Additionally, his portrait, done by painter Harold Ellison in 1950, is on display in Kirkland Hall, Vanderbilt University's administration building.^[4] His grandson, Frank C. Rand III, was a real estate developer and sports car collector.^[19]