history
The Fund for Greater Hartford began as The Hartford Courant Foundation in 1950 with the incorporation of The Foundation as a public foundation. Under the leadership of The Courant’s publisher and president, John R. Reitemeier, the Foundation made grants of corporate funds to local non-profit agencies and raised public funds for the support of Camp Courant – a free summer day camp for Hartford children. At the time, all Foundation Trustees were also members of the newspaper’s Board of Directors. In those early years, the Foundation’s annual grants were funded by contributions from The Hartford Courant and were consistent with the then size of the newspaper. For the five years between 1974 and 1979, total contributions made by the Foundation were $380,000.
The Foundation entered a new era in 1979, when the 215 year old Hartford Courant was purchased by Times Mirror Corporation of Los Angeles. Continuation of the Foundation was an integral part of the purchase agreement, and subsequently The Hartford Courant Foundation was restructured to become a private foundation, governed by a board of twelve trustees, the majority of whom were to represent the community-at-large. In addition, Camp Courant was separated from the Foundation and incorporated as an independent public foundation.
As a result of The Courant’s acquisition by Times Mirror, the assets of the Foundation, which represented stock in The Courant, were converted into a significant cash fund available for diversified investment. The income from the Foundation’s capital endowment, which has a current market value of some $15 million, funds the grants distributed each year.
The next major evolution happened on the occasion of the Foundation’s thirtieth anniversary, when the Board decided that as a private, independent foundation, it was important to convey that independence clearly to the community. The decision was made to move to an independent office space and to change the name of the Foundation to The Fund for Greater Hartford.
The executive director of the Fund is Kate Miller. The Fund is located at 543 Prospect Avenue, Hartford CT 06105-2922.
(860) 232-3113 / kmiller@fundforgreaterhartford.org
