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 Georgia Historical Society’s mission have the option of endowing a position, program, or facility. GHS has curated a list of naming opportunities representative of central activities that would benefit by having a perpetual, dedicated source of support. We welcome donors sharing with us their personal interests and where they may wish to see their gift make the greatest future impact.

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

Dr. William T. Moore, Chairman
Shan Cooper, Ex Officio
Dale Critz, Sr.
W. Todd Groce, Ex Officio
John H. Irby
Robert S. Jepson, Jr.
Sissy Schram Levy
John F. McMullan
Thomas V. Reilly
Philip Solomons, Jr., Trustee Emeritus

For more information regarding the GHS Endowment, please
contact Caroline Stevens Rhodes at 912.651.2125, ext. 116 or by email.

: Cast bronze plaques displayed on the pilasters of the GHS Research Center

: Engraved bronze plaques displayed above the entrance to the GHS Research Center

Named Endowment Funds

$2,500,000 +

Georgia Historical Society General 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.

$1,500,000 +

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.

$1,000,000 +

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.

Marilyn Memory McMullan Fund

John and Marilyn McMullan established the Marilyn Memory McMullan Fund at the Georgia Historical Society in 2017 to support an endowed position, the Marilyn Memory McMullan Director of Programs. The position honors Mrs. Marilyn McMullan and ensures the sustainability of high-quality, scholarly-based educational programming at GHS.

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.

$900,000+

Lougenia and William Gabard Fund

$500,000+

Jane Harty and Laurie Kimball Abbott Fund

Alan S. Gaynor Fund

Alice A. and Robert S. Jepson, Jr. Fund

Remer Y. Lane Memorial Fund

Robert B. Smith II Fund

Vinson-Mitchell Fund

$400,000+

Mary Lane Morrison Fund

$300,000+

Robert V. Martin, Jr. Fund

Raymond M. and Karen R. Masciarella II Conservation Fund

$200,000+

Ray C. Anderson Collection Fund

Barbara and Jack Cay Fund

Sarah and Miles Pinckney Fund

Marguerite Neel Williams Fund

$150,000+

May P. and Francis L. Abreu Fund

Blake Family Fund

Paul F. Thiele Fund

Don and Cindy Waters Fund

$100,000+

Thomas A. and Dorothy B. Davis Fund

Robert Houston Deméré Fund

Lilla M. Hawes Fund

Kay Trogdon Hightower Fund

A. W. Jones, Jr. Fund

Bill Jones III Fund

Florence Powell Minis Fund

Katherine L. Strobhar and A. Douglass Strobhar Fund

Ben J. Tarbutton Fund

$50,000+

Craig Barrow Fund

Ellen B. Bolch Fund

Frank A. Chisholm Fund

John and Carol Ferling Fund

Courtney Knight Gaines Fund

Thomas and Uriah Bullock Harrold Fund

Elizabeth and Thomas Holder Fund

Don and Kaye Kole Fund

John and Frances Morgan Fund

Murray C. Perlman Fund

Solomons Family Fund

Julian B. Space Fund

Albert H. Stoddard Fund

Frances Wood Wilson Foundation Fund

$25,000+

Anonymous

David and Sherry Abney Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Adler II Fund

Malcolm Bell, Jr. Fund

Critz Family Fund

Erroll and Elaine Davis Family Fund

Deriso Family 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

Walter Charlton Hartridge Fund

John C. Inscoe Fund

W.W. Law Fund

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

Jackie Robinson Fund

Dr. Henry Cliff Sauls Fund

Savannah Morning News Fund

Benjamin Neely Young, Sr. and Family Fund

Pledged Funds

The Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Fund

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.

Griffin B. Bell Fund

Mr. John Cay III

Mr. Charlie Crawford

Susan Strobhar Dulany and F. Reed Dulany, Jr.

Mrs. Robert O. Levitt

James and Phillipa Montag Fund

Dr. and Mrs. William T. Moore Fund

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.