…ted to the position of partner, assembling a personal fortune in the process. Upon his death in 1929 at the age of 64, the “Czar of the Great Lakes” left an estate of more than $4 million, the equivalent of about $62 million today. The Cleveland Foundation’s receipt of the bulk of the estate catapulted the foundation into the ranks of the country’s five largest community trusts. More important, it cushioned the foundation from the impact of the…
…63 1963 Annual Report John Sherwin Start-up of Cuyahoga Community College The Cleveland Foundation ranks as the country’s largest community trust 1964 1964 Annual Report Assets surpass $100 million Establishing a Groundbreaking Interracial Forum First significant bequest for arts and culture received 1965 1965 Annual Report Bringing Public Television to Cleveland Police and Tax Base Reform Preserving Mentor Marsh 1966 1966 Annual Report…
…t of the common people. Goff had started his legal career as a solo practitioner and become the “super-troubleshooter” at one of Cleveland’s leading corporate law firms. Because of his specialized skills, Goff was appointed trustee of a bankrupt private streetcar company with which the City of Cleveland had battled for control of these critical transportation lines for seven years. In short order, Goff and Johnson negotiated a Solomonic…
…isbursement of endowment income. Goff insisted that a community trust’s income must be distributed by an independent group of citizens, of which a substantial number were to be named by the holders of positions of honor and trust in the community. Breaking with the practice of setting up foundations as private corporations with self-perpetuating boards, he proposed that only two of the five members of the Cleveland Foundation’s grantmaking body…
…ant relatives) to the Cleveland Foundation. During 60 years of unremitting toil—later in life she had cleaned offices in downtown Cleveland and washed laundry in her three rented rooms—she had accumulated well over $10,000. Prudently invested in blue-chip stocks, Bohm’s nest egg would be worth more than $150,000 today. Bohm had been almost completely blind as a result of inoperable cataracts when she died, just a few days before her 80th…
…rged a new path in institutionalizing a collaborative relationship between the board and staff. Because program officers do the legwork on grants, Minter perceived that the board of directors often felt that they were merely rubber-stamping others’ decisions. He envisioned a far more active role for the trustees. He wanted to see their intelligence and experience brought to bear on major policy decisions. Immediately upon his appointment, Minter…
…ter had become involved as a trustee or officer with an impressive list of area organizations, including the Adult Education Association, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland Music School Settlement, Cuyahoga County Home Rule Association, Ohio School Survey Commission and the YMCA. He taught at the YMCA’s Cleveland School of Technology, a predecessor of today’s Cleveland State University, for 34 years, staying on to conduct evening courses…
…of a sailing vessel and circumnavigated the Great Lakes. In his first month as an attorney, he earned fees totaling $2.40—about $50 today. Goff made an offer to John D. Rockefeller, his law firm’s client, to take on the restructuring of Standard Oil to meet federal antitrust regulations. The proposed negotiation was rejected by President Theodore Roosevelt, whose administration subsequently entered into litigation that forcibly broke up the…
…lp administer his charitable affairs. Edith studied at Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University and at the Cleveland School of Art, becoming a published poet. She was one of the first women to be appointed a trustee of the Cleveland Public Library. When she determined to honor her father with a prize, she chose literature—a universally popular vehicle—to bring national attention to the causes they both embraced. So in 1934, Edith…
…ive and longtime resident of Findlay, Ohio, turned over his life savings to the Cleveland Foundation upon his death in 1976. The disposition, as well as the size, of Dorney’s $5 million estate — the equivalent of $20 million today — no doubt surprised those of his neighbors and associates who mistook for stinginess this bachelor’s frugality. Dorney, who was born in 1866, had no television or refrigerator. He preferred to spend his free time…