Albert Russel Erskine

Albert Russel Erskine (January 24, 1871 – July 1, 1933) was an American businessman. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, he worked in a number of manufacturing industries before joining the Studebaker motor car manufacturing firm in 1911. He served as Studebaker's president from 1915 until the firm encountered severe financial problems in 1933, when he committed suicide.

Early life and career Albert Russel Erskine was born on January 24, 1871, in Huntsville, Alabama, to William Michael Erskine. He was educated in public and private schools. As a boy, he sold apples to train passengers passing through the Huntsville station. He oversaw wartime operations of Studebaker during World War I and its manufacturing of war equipment. Following the war, he led a expansion of Studebaker and consolidated its production and assembly operations in South Bend, Indiana. Working capital had fallen from $26 million in 1926 to $3.5 million in 1932 and the banks were owed $6 million, for which they demanded payment. Studebaker defaulted and went into receivership.

Suffering from heart trouble and diabetes, ousted from his position at Studebaker, himself $350,000 in debt and his Studebaker stock now all but worthless, Erskine committed suicide on June 30, 1933, by shooting himself in the heart in his home on the south side of South Bend. He is interred at the Erksine Mausoleum in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. Hendry added, "According to one account, the insurance companies duly and promptly paid all his debts and provided for his dependents".

Personal life Erskine married Annie Leyll Garland of Huntington, West Virginia, in 1903. He had a son, Albert Russel Jr. He lived at his Twyckenham estate and helped develop the neighboring Ridgedale development.

Philanthropy and other interests

Erskine served as director of the South Bend War Chest from 1917 to 1919. In 1920, he helped organize the Citizens' Home organization, a subsidiary of Studebaker that invested almost into home development in South Bend. From 1922 to 1926, he was a member of the city planning committee.

Erskine was a member of the Intrastate Harbors Commission of Illinois and Indiana. He was a director of Chicago's Federal Reserve Board. He was a director of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. He was an avid golfer. He was donor and served as the director and president of the South Bend Country Club. He was a member of the board of directors of Marine Trust Company of Buffalo.

Erskine Park Erskine developed a park and golf course in South Bend that became known as Erskine Park.

University of Notre Dame In addition to his business work, Erskine served on the board of trustees of the University of Notre Dame, where his son Albert Jr. studied. The university awarded him an honorary LL.D. in 1924. He took a strong interest in college football (a later Studebaker brand, the Rockne, was named after Notre Dame's football coach of the time), and initiated the Albert Russel Erskine Trophy for the national football championship. The winner was chosen by a panel whose methods are, in essence, still used to select the champion team. He was instrumental in a grant of $10,000 that the Studebaker Corporation made to Harvard University in 1926, to set up the Albert Russel Erskine Bureau for Street Traffic Research, which remained active through much of the 1930s.

Legacy A hotel in Huntsville was named after Erskine.