History and Legacy

The Fund was established in 1911 by the will of Caroline Phelps Stokes, one of the first female philanthropists in the United States, based on her lifelong concern for the educational needs of the underprivileged. Perhaps the Fund’s most notable achievement is its capacity to anticipate needs and offer a variety of shifting services and programs to meet the challenges of successive generations into the twenty-first century.

Over its nearly 100-year history, the Phelps Stokes Fund has initiated, conducted, and sponsored hallmark educational surveys and research studies that were fundamental in shaping the improvement of education for African Americans, Native Americans, and Africans. The Fund has been particularly active in Liberia taking a leadership role in the American Colonization Society. The Fund’s most notable contribution to supporting the growth of Liberian civil society was the creation of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), Liberia’s first and largest vocational/technical training school. For over 75 years BWI has produced a master class of artisans, technicians and technologists who become teachers, community leaders and overall catalysts of development.

Along with its policy-shaping studies and scores of human services programs, the Phelps Stokes Fund has facilitated the growth of human development by serving as an incubator to many nationally- and internationally-known programs and institutions through providing founding grants, which attracted other investments and contributions. The following organizations and programs trace their beginnings to the Phelps Stokes Fund and are part of its great legacy.

African Student Aid Fund American Indian College Fund
Archbishop Tutu Southern
African Scholarship Fund		 Association of Black American Ambassadors
Booker Washington Institute of Liberia Boys Choir of Harlem
Cooperative College Development Fund
Caribbean Cultural Association
Jackie Robinson Foundation Native American Science Association
South African Institute of Race Relations United Negro College Fund
 

Comments are closed.