McCormick Foundation is a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based nonprofit charitable trust established in 1955, following the death of "Colonel"

Robert R. McCormick Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick (July 30, 1880 – April 1, 1955) was an American publisher, lawyer, and businessman. A member of the McCormick family of Chicago, McCormick became a lawyer, Republican Chicago alderman, distinguished U.S. A ...

of the

McCormick family The McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia is an Americans, American family of Scottish and Scots-Irish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick reaper, a machine that revolutionized agriculture ...

. , it had more than

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1 billion in assets.

History

In 1911, McCormick became the editor and publisher of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', a position he held until his death in 1955. McCormick's will founded a charitable trust to promote his beliefs regarding the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

, education and journalism. In May 2008, the foundation’s Board of Directors changed its name from McCormick Tribune Foundation to the McCormick Foundation to clarify that the Foundation no longer held an ownership position in the

Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

. In May 2009, the foundation appointed Chicago native, lawyer and former CEO of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'',

David Hiller David Dean Hiller (born June 12, 1953) is a lawyer and former media executive for Chicago-based Tribune Company. On May 18, 2009, he was appointed president and CEO of the McCormick Foundation, a leading charitable organization with more than $ ...

as its president and CEO. Hiller succeeded David L. Grange, a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

major general, who was the foundation’s president from 2005–2009.

Parks and museums

Cantigny Park

McCormick left his grandfather

Joseph Medill Joseph Medill (April 6, 1823 – March 16, 1899) was a Canadian-American newspaper editor, publisher, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'', and he was M ...

's estate, that he called Cantigny, as a public park. The park is located in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a city in and the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is located in Milton and Winfield Townships, approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, Wheaton's population was 53,970, making it the 27th-mos ...

Mobilization of the McCormick Freedom Museum

From April 2006 to March 2009 the foundation funded the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum which focused on

rights: freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition. In January 2009, the foundation announced it was turning the McCormick Freedom Museum mobile. The mobile museum made its debut in Chicago’s

Pioneer Court Pioneer Court is a plaza located near the junction of the Chicago River and Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Upper Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It is believed to be the site of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable's original residence and tr ...

on May 27, 2010.

Grantmaking

The foundation has six programs:

Education

After a $30 million grant to renovate the Technological Institute in 1989, the Engineering school of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

was renamed the

Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science The McCormick School of Engineering (branded as Northwestern Engineering) is the engineering school of Northwestern University, a private university in Evanston, Illinois. History The trustees of Northwestern University founded a College of T ...

. Since 2003, the foundation focused on programs for children up to the age of eight in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, including Advance Illinois, Illinois Action for Children, Ounce of Prevention Fund, and the

Erikson Institute Erikson Institute is a graduate school in child development in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is named for the noted psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson. History and mission The Institute was founded in 1966 by four chi ...

Journalism

The foundation makes grants concerning journalism, including American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation, Radio Arte, News Literacy Project, Northwestern University's Media Management Center, and the

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netw ...

Civics

The foundation makes grants to improve access to civic education and engagement opportunities for Chicago area youth ages 12–22, including Mikva Challenge, City Year Chicago, Interfaith Youth Core, Illinois Campus Compact, and Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

Communities

The foundation partners with media outlets and sports teams (including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Cubs and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

) to raise money for local needs, often granting matching funds.

Veterans

In 2008 and 2009 the foundation made grants for services for returning veterans from

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

and

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

Other initiatives

The foundation makes grants for Chicago healthcare, cultural, education and human service organizations. Examples include

Chicago Lighthouse The Chicago Lighthouse is a non-profit organization located in Chicago, Illinois. The Lighthouse is one of the oldest social service agencies in Chicago. Among the many programs it offers are a school for children with multi-disabilities; job trai ...

for the blind or visually impaired,

Children's Memorial Hospital Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, formerly Children's Memorial Hospital and commonly known as Lurie Children's, is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Chicago, Illinois. The hospital has ...

, and Off The Street Club.

References

External links

McCormick Foundation Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccormick Foundation Organizations established in 1955 Non-profit organizations based in Chicago 1955 establishments in Illinois