Endowment Campaign
Take your place in Georgia history
Nearly half a century ago, the Georgia Historical Society created an Endowment Fund to ensure the future of one of the oldest historical societies in the nation.
Governed by an independent Board of Trustees, the purpose of the GHS Endowment is twofold: provide perpetual care for, and access to, the oldest archival collection of Georgia history in the nation and ensure the delivery of rich and varied educational programs that teach history to hundreds of thousands of students each year.
The Georgia Historical Society Endowment Fund extends to donors a unique opportunity to provide perpetual support in fulfillment of GHS’s educational mission to collect, examine, and teach Georgia history. If you are interested in making a gift to the GHS Endowment, we encourage you to speak to your financial and legal advisors to determine the best option for you and your family. There are many ways to support the GHS Endowment, including gifts of cash, bequests, and other types of planned gifts.
By supporting the Society’s Endowment Fund, you are leaving an enduring legacy that will benefit the people of Georgia for generations to come.
Professional Position, Program, or Facility Endowments
Donors who wish to directly support a certain facet of the Society’s mission have the option of endowing a position, program, or facility at GHS. Examples of this include endowing the Research Center, the Historical Marker Program, or the Education Coordinator position, among others. Such restricted endowment gifts enable these important aspects of the institution to continue in perpetuity.
Named Funds
For a minimum gift of $25,000, donors may honor or memorialize an individual, family, or entity by creating a named fund. Gifts of $25,000 and above are recognized with engraved bronze plaques above the entrance to historic Hodgson Hall, the home of the GHS Research Center. Cast bronze plaques recognizing gifts of $100,000 or larger are displayed prominently on the pilasters on the Research Center Reading Room mezzanine level.
Legacy Society
GHS invites a select number of prominent Georgia families who have shaped our state’s history to join the Legacy Society by donating their personal and/or family collections of papers, photographs, portraits, and museum-quality materials to be cataloged and archived at the Society’s Research Center.
Future generations will be able to access these collections in perpetuity, sustaining each family’s unique story and its impact on the state of Georgia and its place in our nation’s history.
An endowment gift to accompany these family collections ensures the proper preservation and cataloging by the Society’s professional archivists, who will also provide students, teachers, scholars, and the public with access to this important part of our state’s history.
Members of the Legacy Society will be recognized with cast bronze plaques displayed prominently on the pilasters in the historic GHS Reading Room, as well as in the Society’s publications and on its web site.
Endowment Trust Board
- John F. McMullan, Chairman
- Dolly Chisholm
- Dale Critz, Sr.
- Walter M. “Sonny” Deriso, Jr., Ex officio
- W. Todd Groce, Ex officio
- Robert S. Jepson, Jr.
- Sissy Schram Levy
- Thomas V. Reilly
- Phillip Solomons, Jr.
For more information regarding the GHS Endowment, please
contact Caroline Stevens Rhodes at 912.651.2125, ext. 116 or by email.
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- Cast bronze plaques displayed on the pilasters of the GHS Research Center
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- Engraved bronze plaques displayed above the entrance to the GHS Research Center
Named Endowment Funds
$2,000,000 +
Georgia Historical Society Endowment Fund
Established in 1973, the Fund was established to provide for the perpetual care and maintenance of the Society’s collection and facilities as well as to ensure sustained funding for the delivery of educational outreach programming and research services.
$1,000,000 +
Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program
The Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program honors and secures Vince Dooley’s legacy for his lifelong commitment to history and higher education. As a longtime member and chairman of the Georgia Historical Society’s Board of Curators, Coach Dooley has demonstrated his strong belief in and support of the Society’s mission as a nationally-recognized research and educational institution. The Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program has been established by the GHS Board of Curators and is supported by an endowment funded by friends and admirers of Vince Dooley. Click here for more information and a list of supporters.
General John Floyd Fund
The fund was established in 1997 by a bequest from Mary Faith Wilson in honor of her ancestor, General John Floyd of Camden County, Georgia. General Floyd was a renowned military leader of Georgia troops in the War of 1812.
Watson-Brown Foundation Fund
The fund was established in 2001 by the Watson-Brown Foundation. The Watson-Brown Foundation was established in 1970 by Walter J. Brown in memory of two of Georgia’s most prominent political leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Thomas E. Watson and J.J. Brown. The foundation provides scholarships to college students, supports southern colleges and universities, and encourages scholarship on the South.
$700,000+
Lougenia and William Gabard Fund
$500,000+
Alice A. and Robert S. Jepson, Jr. Fund
$400,000+
Alan S. Gaynor Fund
Remer Y. Lane Memorial Fund
Mary Lane Morrison Fund
Vinson-Mitchell Fund
$250,000+
Robert V. Martin, Jr. Fund
Marilyn Memory McMullan Fund
$150,000+
Ray C. Anderson Collection Fund
Barbara and Jack Cay Fund
Raymond and Karen Masciarella Fund
Sarah and Miles Pinckney Fund
Marguerite Neel Williams Fund
$100,000+
May P. Abreu and Francis L. Abreu Fund
Robert Houston Deméré Fund
Lilla M. Hawes Fund
A. W. Jones, Jr. Fund
Florence Powell Minis Fund
Ben J. Tarbutton Fund
$50,000+
Craig Barrow Fund
Courtney Knight Gaines Fund
Don and Kaye Kole Fund
Julian B. Space Fund
Albert H. Stoddard Fund
Don and Cindy Waters Fund
$25,000+
Anonymous
Laurie Kimball Abbott Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Adler II Fund
Malcolm Bell, Jr. Fund
Frank A. Chisholm Fund
Thomas A. and Dorothy B. Davis Fund
Walter M. “Sonny” Deriso, Jr. Fund
Barbara and Vincent Dooley Fund
Martha and George N. Fawcett Fund
Margaret Powell and Langdon Strong Flowers Fund
W. Todd Groce Fund
Nancy and Lawrence Gutstein Fund
Thomas and Uriah Bullock Harrold Fund
Walter Charlton Hartridge Fund
Neil and Kay Trogdon Hightower Fund
Elizabeth and Thomas Holder
B.H. Levy Fund
Raymond M. Masciarella II, Esquire and Family Fund
Frances D. and Richard Meyer III Fund
John and Grace Neises Fund
Barry and Grace Greer Phillips Fund
Thomas V. and Susan G. Reilly Fund
Dr. Henry Cliff Sauls Fund
Savannah Morning News Fund
Solomons Family Fund
Frances Wood Wilson Foundation Fund
Benjamin Neely Young, Sr. and Family Fund
Pledged Named Funds
Marilyn Memory McMullan Director of Programs
John and Marilyn McMullan recently pledged $1 million to create a named fund to permanently endow the Director of Programs position to ensure the excellence of GHS’s statewide educational programming in perpetuity. The Board approved the creation of the Marilyn Memory McMullan Director of Programs position at their August 2017 meeting. The position is being named in honor of Mrs. McMullan, an accomplished artist, Board of Advisors member of the Georgia Museum of Art, former president of the Lullwater Garden Club, mother of four children, and grandmother of four.
Bequest
The Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian
In 2014 Dr. Victor L. Andrews established the Society’s first endowed position, the Dr. Elaine Bernasek Andrews Distinguished Historian, through a $1 million planned gift from the Victor L. Andrews Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Named in memory of Victor’s late wife, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian ensures the future of high quality, scholarly based educational programming at GHS for generations to come.
Mrs. Robert O. Levitt
Dr. William T. Moore Distinguished Editorship of the Georgia Historical Quarterly
Dr. William T. “Ted” Moore and his wife Linda recently pledged to permanently endow the Editorship of the Georgia Historical Quarterly through a very generous planned gift. Dr. Moore had a distinguished career in academia, serving as Associate Provost at the University of South Carolina at the time of his retirement. Mrs. Moore is an attorney who served as director of legal affairs at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. This gift represents the Moore’s understanding of the financial need of underwriting one of the premier state historical journals in the United States, and their commitment to scholarly excellence and the dissemination of quality research.
