Phelps Stokes Fund
Created as the Trustees of Phelps Stokes Fund, it connects emerging leaders and organizations in Africa and the Americas with resources to help them advance social and economic development.
Edward Berman writes that between 1911 and 1945, Phelps Stokes "played a role in American Negro and especially in African education disproportionate to the rather meagre financial resources it contributed directly to these endeavors between 1911, when it was incorporated, and 1945.
[Phelps Stokes'] endowment of slightly less than $1 million was small when compared with other philanthropic organizations established early in the twentieth century.
"[2] The original charter of Phelps Stokes (PS) included a focus on the needs of American Indians, particularly for the educational and human development of those who were historically underrepresented and marginalized.
During the first thirty years, PS made small grants totaling approximately $19,000 for Indian schools, organizations, and scholarships.
In 1939, the Indian Rights Association (IRA) requested assistance to study the controversy over range management on the Navajo Reservation.
That year, PS also helped found the American Indian Institute in Wichita, Kansas under the leadership of Henry Roe Cloud.
Phelps Stokes' involvement in American Indian communities waned after World War II until the appointment of Dr. Wilton Dillon as Executive Secretary and Director of Research in 1957.
During the initial years of Dillon's leadership, PS became involved in planning studies and conferences related to American Indian development.
In 1960, Dillon organized a symposium on American Indian economic development during the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology held at the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1963, Dillon represented PS at the National Congress of American Indians Leadership Conference where PS- sponsored discussions focused on juvenile delinquency, law enforcement, land tenure problems and relationships with state governments.
Because the Smithsonian Institution was launching a more extensive Native American Reference Book, PS ceased its efforts and returned the remaining grant money to the Ford Foundation in 1975.
Baker, Martin and Katus conducted the research and wrote The Directory of American Indian Private Funding Sources, published by AIHEC.
In 1976, Phelps Stokes secured an initial grant to launch the Native-American Philanthropic News Service (NAPNS), to be directed by journalist Rose Robinson (Hopi).
She published The Exchange, a quarterly publication for information exchange between Indians and the philanthropic world; The Roundup, news briefs and opportunities for Indian groups; Bulletins, an information piece on meetings and events; and the famed Red Book, a pocket-sized directory updated quarterly of all key federal officials with an interest in Native American programs.
In 1977, Katus established the western office of Phelps Stokes, located in Rapid City, South Dakota, and launched the Rural Ethnic Institute.
Under leadership of Ambassador Franklin Williams, the Fund acted against apartheid by hosting members of the ANC and the Africa Roundtable as well as publishing talks by Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Wole Soyinka.
In 2007, Phelps Stokes hosted a three-day conference and film festival at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School in Cloquet, MN.
Phelps Stokes convened several commissions to study the educational conditions and needs of Black Africans, and made recommendations for improving access and quality.
[citation needed] The first President of Liberia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, knew both Anson Greene Phelps and Thomas Stokes.
In 1898, Caroline Phelps Stokes, Anson's granddaughter, endowed the Roberts Memorial Scholarship at Tuskegee College in honor of the first president of Liberia.
When the Liberian civil war ceased temporarily in 1997, the Fund implemented a training program for former combatants at the Booker T. Washington Institute (BWI) in collaboration with USAID.
The program delivered non-formal and formal educational information to individuals, particularly women and young people, who lacked access to traditional schools.
