Garland Fund
Encyclopedia
The American Fund for Public Service, commonly known as the Garland Fund, was a philanthropic organization established in 1922 by Charles Garland, the son of a Wall Street
stockbroker named James A Garland Jr. (1870–1906) and Marie Louise Tudor Garland. The fund, administered by a group of trustees headed by Roger Baldwin
of the American Civil Liberties Union
, ultimately disbursed some $2 Million to a variety of radical and left wing institutions, including the Federated Press
labor news service
, the Vanguard Press
publishing house, The New Masses
magazine, The World Tomorrow
magazine, and to the legal defense fund associated with the 1926 Passaic Textile Strike
, as well as a host of similar projects. The fund was terminated in 1941.
broker, informed the executor
of his father's estate that he would refuse to accept a $1 Million inheritance
from the estate
of his deceased father. Garland explained to a reporter at the time that he would not accept money from "a system which starves thousands while hundreds are stuffed" and which "leaves a sick woman helpless and offers its services to a healthy man." Garland indicated to this reporter that he was not refusing to accept these funds because of socialist beliefs, but rather because as part of his study of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the works of Lev Tolstoy and H.G. Wells, he had come to the earnest belief that the money "is not mine."
Hearing of the young man's decision to refuse his inheritance and his rationale, the socialist author Upton Sinclair
urged Garland to accept the money not for his personal gain, but rather to put it to a higher use. Sinclair suggested making $100,000 donations to a set of specific organizations seeking to change the economic and social system of which Garland disapproved. These organizations favored by Sinclair included The Liberator
magazine, the socialist daily newspaper The New York Call
, the communist daily newspaper The Daily Worker, the Federated Press news service, the Intercollegiate Socialist Society
, the American Civil Liberties Union
, the American Union Against Militarism
, and the magazine edited by 1916 Socialist Party
Presidential candidate Allan L. Benson
, Reconstruction. While Garland did not immediately take action upon this suggestion, it seems as though the idea of accepting the inheritance in the name of establishing a radical philanthropic organization was planted in his head at this time.
In 1921, Garland was approached by Roger Baldwin, head of the American Civil Liberties Union, probably through ACLU attorney Walter Nelles
, a law partner of Swinburne Hale, who had recently married Garland's widowed mother. Baldwin convinced Garland to accept his father's inheritance and to establish with it a "national trust fund" which would aid efforts to expand "individual liberty and the power of voluntary associations."
On July 5, 1921, the American Fund for Public Service was formally incorporated by Lewis Gannett
of the New York World
, Robert Morss Lovett
of the University of Chicago
, and Roger Baldwin. The money behind the fund was held in the form of securities at the First National Bank of New York. In preparation for the task of distributing the funds, Roger Baldwin reached out to the Rockefeller
, Carnegie
, and Russell Sage
foundations to determine how those philanthropies handled grant requests.
The board of directors included Roger Baldwin, H. H. Broach, Robert W. Dunn
, Morris L. Ernst, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
, William Z. Foster
, Lewis Gannett, Benjamin Gitlow
, Clinton S. Golden, James Weldon Johnson
, Freda Kirchwey
, Clarina Michelson, Robert Morss Lovett, Scott Nearing
, and Norman M. Thomas.
While the board of directors in charge of distributing grants from the Garland Fund exhibited great cooperation during its initial phase, gradually the fratricidal hostility which characterized American radical politics in the 1920s made its way into the board's discussions. The board seemed to split between a Communist
left and Socialist right wings, with a small number of centrists tipping the balance.
From an early date the Garland Fund's board of directors determined not to give money directly to political parties, instead targeting funds to groups or institutions engaged in original groundbreaking efforts on behalf of the working class or oppressed minority groups. Some of the institutions receiving significant financial injections included the Rand School of Social Science
, Brookwood Labor College
, the Furrier's Union, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
.
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
stockbroker named James A Garland Jr. (1870–1906) and Marie Louise Tudor Garland. The fund, administered by a group of trustees headed by Roger Baldwin
Roger Nash Baldwin
Roger Nash Baldwin was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union . He served as executive director of the ACLU until 1950....
of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, ultimately disbursed some $2 Million to a variety of radical and left wing institutions, including the Federated Press
Federated Press
The Federated Press was a left wing news service established in 1920 that provided daily content to the radical and labor press in America.-History:...
labor news service
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
, the Vanguard Press
Vanguard Press
The Vanguard Press was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on radical topics, including studies of the Soviet Union,...
publishing house, The New Masses
The New Masses
The "New Masses" was a prominent American Marxist publication edited by Walt Carmon, briefly by Whittaker Chambers, and primarily by Michael Gold, Granville Hicks, and Joseph Freeman....
magazine, The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow (magazine)
The World Tomorrow: A journal looking toward a Christian world was an American political magazine, founded by the pacifist organization Fellowship of Reconciliation and published in New York City by FOR's Fellowship Press at 108 Lexington Avenue.-Main Editors:The World Tomorrow seems to have had...
magazine, and to the legal defense fund associated with the 1926 Passaic Textile Strike
1926 Passaic Textile Strike
The 1926 Passaic Textile Strike was a work stoppage by over 15,000 woolen mill workers in and around Passaic, New Jersey over wage issues in several factories in the vicinity...
, as well as a host of similar projects. The fund was terminated in 1941.
Establishment of the fund
In 1920, Charles Garland, the 21-year old son of a Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
broker, informed the executor
Executor
An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .-Overview:...
of his father's estate that he would refuse to accept a $1 Million inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
from the estate
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
of his deceased father. Garland explained to a reporter at the time that he would not accept money from "a system which starves thousands while hundreds are stuffed" and which "leaves a sick woman helpless and offers its services to a healthy man." Garland indicated to this reporter that he was not refusing to accept these funds because of socialist beliefs, but rather because as part of his study of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the works of Lev Tolstoy and H.G. Wells, he had come to the earnest belief that the money "is not mine."
Hearing of the young man's decision to refuse his inheritance and his rationale, the socialist author Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
urged Garland to accept the money not for his personal gain, but rather to put it to a higher use. Sinclair suggested making $100,000 donations to a set of specific organizations seeking to change the economic and social system of which Garland disapproved. These organizations favored by Sinclair included The Liberator
The Liberator
The Liberator was an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. Garrison published weekly issues of The Liberator from Boston continuously for 35 years, from January 1, 1831, to the final issue of January 1, 1866...
magazine, the socialist daily newspaper The New York Call
New York Call
The New York Call was a socialist daily newspaper published in New York City from 1908 through 1923. The Call was the second of three English-language dailies affiliated with the Socialist Party of America to be established, following the Chicago Daily Socialist while preceding the long running...
, the communist daily newspaper The Daily Worker, the Federated Press news service, the Intercollegiate Socialist Society
Intercollegiate Socialist Society
The Intercollegiate Socialist Society was the a Socialist student organization from 1905-1921. It attracted many prominent intellectuals and writers and acted as the unofficial Socialist Party of America student wing...
, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, the American Union Against Militarism
American Union Against Militarism
The American Union Against Militarism was an American pacifist organization active established in response to World War I. The organization attempted to keep the United States out of the European conflict through mass demonstrations, public lectures, and the printed word...
, and the magazine edited by 1916 Socialist Party
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
Presidential candidate Allan L. Benson
Allan L. Benson
Allan Louis Benson was an American newspaper editor and author who ran for President as the Socialist Party of America candidate in 1916.-Early years:Benson was born in Plainfield, Michigan on November 6, 1871. His father, Adelbert L...
, Reconstruction. While Garland did not immediately take action upon this suggestion, it seems as though the idea of accepting the inheritance in the name of establishing a radical philanthropic organization was planted in his head at this time.
In 1921, Garland was approached by Roger Baldwin, head of the American Civil Liberties Union, probably through ACLU attorney Walter Nelles
Walter Nelles
Nelles, Walter . A graduate of Harvard Law School, professor of law at Yale University, founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union during World War I....
, a law partner of Swinburne Hale, who had recently married Garland's widowed mother. Baldwin convinced Garland to accept his father's inheritance and to establish with it a "national trust fund" which would aid efforts to expand "individual liberty and the power of voluntary associations."
On July 5, 1921, the American Fund for Public Service was formally incorporated by Lewis Gannett
Lewis Gannett
Lewis Gannett is an American writer.Gannett is the author of the books The Living One, Magazine Beach, The Siege, as well as two Millennium novels: Gehenna and Force Majeure.-External links:*...
of the New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
, Robert Morss Lovett
Robert Morss Lovett
Robert Morss Lovett was an American academic, writer, editor, political activist, and government official....
of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and Roger Baldwin. The money behind the fund was held in the form of securities at the First National Bank of New York. In preparation for the task of distributing the funds, Roger Baldwin reached out to the Rockefeller
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, Carnegie
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
, and Russell Sage
Russell Sage Foundation
The Russell Sage Foundation is the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences. Founded in 1907 and headquartered in New York City, the foundation is a research center, a funding source for studies by scholars at other institutions, and a key member of the...
foundations to determine how those philanthropies handled grant requests.
The board of directors included Roger Baldwin, H. H. Broach, Robert W. Dunn
Robert W. Dunn
Robert Williams "Bob" Dunn was an American political activist and economic researcher. Dunn was an active member of the American Civil Liberties Union from its creation, serving on that group's National Committee from 1923 and on its Board of Directors from 1933 to 1941...
, Morris L. Ernst, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World . Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage...
, William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
, Lewis Gannett, Benjamin Gitlow
Benjamin Gitlow
Benjamin "Ben" Gitlow was a prominent American socialist politician of the early twentieth century and a founding member of the Communist Party USA. From the end of the 1930s, Gitlow turned to conservatism and wrote two sensational exposés of American Communism, books which were very influential...
, Clinton S. Golden, James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
, Freda Kirchwey
Freda Kirchwey
Freda Kirchwey was an American journalist, editor, and publisher strongly committed throughout her career to liberal causes. From 1933 to 1955, she was Editor of The Nation magazine.-Biography:...
, Clarina Michelson, Robert Morss Lovett, Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, and advocate of simple living.-The early years:...
, and Norman M. Thomas.
While the board of directors in charge of distributing grants from the Garland Fund exhibited great cooperation during its initial phase, gradually the fratricidal hostility which characterized American radical politics in the 1920s made its way into the board's discussions. The board seemed to split between a Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
left and Socialist right wings, with a small number of centrists tipping the balance.
From an early date the Garland Fund's board of directors determined not to give money directly to political parties, instead targeting funds to groups or institutions engaged in original groundbreaking efforts on behalf of the working class or oppressed minority groups. Some of the institutions receiving significant financial injections included the Rand School of Social Science
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
, Brookwood Labor College
Brookwood Labor College
Brookwood Labor College was the first residential labor college in the United States. The school was established in 1921 near Katonah, New York. The school was closely supported by affiliate unions of the American Federation of Labor until 1928, when pressure began to be exerted by the AF of L's...
, the Furrier's Union, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s...
.
Termination of the Fund
On June 18, 1941, the board of directors of the American Fund for Public Service announced that it had voted to terminate the fund, returning its "few remaining assets" to Charles Garland. Garland was assigned $24,626.18 in outstanding loans, as well as the organization's final cash balance of $1,619.13. Over the course of its 19 year existence, the Garland fund had contributed nearly $2 Million to almost 100 enterprises.Beneficiaries and Clients of the Fund
- Brookwood Labor CollegeBrookwood Labor CollegeBrookwood Labor College was the first residential labor college in the United States. The school was established in 1921 near Katonah, New York. The school was closely supported by affiliate unions of the American Federation of Labor until 1928, when pressure began to be exerted by the AF of L's...
- Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersBrotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersThe Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by blacks to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor . It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks , now known as the Transportation Communications International Union.The...
- Commonwealth CollegeCommonwealth CollegeCommonwealth College can refer to several institutions.*Association of Commonwealth Universities in the Commonwealth of NationsIn the United States:*Commonwealth College...
- Daily WorkerDaily WorkerThe Daily Worker was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, some attempts were made to make it appear that the paper reflected a...
- Equity Printing Co.
- Furrier's Union
- Hamburg American Lines
- Industrial Workers of the WorldIndustrial Workers of the WorldThe Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
- Labor News Reel Service
- Manumit SchoolManumit schoolThe Manumit School was an "experimental" Christian socialist boarding school in Pawling, New York. and, in 1944, Bristol, Pennsylvania....
- Minneapolis Daily StarStar TribuneThe Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
- New Masses
- New York Call Printing Co.
- Novy MirNovy MirNovy Mir is a Russian language literary magazine that has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine Mir Bozhy , which was published from 1892 to 1906, and its follow-up, Sovremenny Mir , which was published 1906-1917...
- Oklahoma Leader
- Polish People’s Publishing Company
- Rand School of Social ScienceRand School of Social ScienceThe Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
- Russian Reconstruction Farms
- Seattle Union Record
- Summer School for Women Workers
- United Mine Workers of America
- Urban League
- Women’s Trade Union League
External links
- American Fund for Public Service records, 1922-1941. New York Public Library. Catalog and finder's aid for 59 boxes and 39 reels of microfilm containing records and correspondence.
- Post on Philanthropic Words about Samson's book American Fund for Public Service