van Ameringen Foundation Inc. Records, 1958 - 1988

Summary

Creator:
van Ameringen Foundation
Abstract:
This collection contains records from the van Ameringen Foundation. The collection has 2 series: Publications and Organizations Supported.
Extent:
71 boxes 29.61 linear feet
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The van Ameringen Foundation records date from 1958-1988, with the bulk from the late 19601 s through the mid 1980s. The records are arranged alphabetically by name of organization. Within each folder, the records are in reverse chronological order as they were shipped to the library. The collection has been divided into two series: Publications and Organizations Supported.

Publications: this series consist of publications prepared by the van Ameringen Foundation to aid applicants and other interested parties. The booklet "The Foundation and its Program" explains the purpose and functioning of the Foundation. Annual reports supplement this information.

Organizations Supported: The vast majority of the collection are the records of organizations that the van Ameringen Foundation supported. Records include proposals, letters indicating support of projects, other correspondence, progress reports of organizations, financial statements, reports of the National Information Bureau, and published material prepared by the organizations. Records from the 1960s and 1970s reflect the turbulent times and problems of urban society. Issues addressed include drugs, abortion, sexual problems, family problems, needs of children, adoption, foster care, the aging, and education. Some organizations were supported for many years and others were supported for a single project. The following provides examples of the broad range of organizations that received grants from the van Ameringen Foundation: Center for Preventive Psychiatry, Children's Television Workshop, Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health and Mental Retardation Agencies, Covenant House, Educational Broadcasting Network (Channel 13), Lower East Side Family Union, Menninger Foundation, Mental Health Law Project, National Medical Fellowships, State Communities Aid Association, United Negro College Fund. Also included are records from a Dutch based organization that Arnold van Ameringen founded in 1964 to aid the mental health movement in Holland named Stichting Pandora.

Biographical / historical:

The van Ameringen Foundation was founded in 1950 by Arnold Louis van Ameringen, who was chairman and president of International Flavors and Fragrances. The Foundation received all its assets from him during his lifetime and from his estate upon his death on January 5, 1966. The van Ameringen Foundation is a private family foundation located in New York City that operates no programs of its own, but makes grants to other appropriate tax-exempt organizations.

Although he was not a medical professional, Mr. van Ameringen was active in the mental health movement, and the focus of the grant making continued to be mental health and related social issues. From its beginning, the Foundation sought to stimulate prevention, education, and direct care in the mental health field with an emphasis on individuals and populations having a disadvantaged background and deprived opportunities. Up until 1966, most of the van Ameringen Foundation grants were awarded to organizations involved in treatment and rehabilitation programs with some funds also provided to the prevention of mental illness. The range of activity was enlarged through the bequest of Mr. van Ameringen.

Within the mental health field, the Foundation did not promote any single method or approach but attempted to assist preventive, rehabilitative, and scholarly efforts across a wide programmatic range. In the view of its directors, mental health and mental illness were diverse matters affecting many aspects of behavior in daily life and a broad spectrum of people. The Foundation endeavored to remain responsive to changing conditions and receptive to emerging needs. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the time period of most of the collection, a reflection of this was its concern with access to, and delivery of, appropriate and effective therapeutic care. Within its immediate geographic area, the Foundation has given support from time to time to the arts, education, cultural activities, environmental, and recreational projects. During the late 1980s, the Foundation gave approximately $1.5 million annually. The Foundation recognized the relationship between mental health and mental and physical impairment, but was not active in these matters or in the fields of drug and alcohol abuse.

On occasion, grants were made on a regional and even national basis. However, the focal area of the Foundation's work was the New York City metropolitan area with occasional grants in the other areas between Boston and Washington, D.C., such as Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania area. In addition, Foundation policy normally precluded from consideration appeals for endowment purposes, capital projects, annual fundraising drives, or support of international activities and institutions in other countries, and no grants in direct support of individuals were made by the Foundation. The Foundation generally tried to support innovative programs from which the larger public could eventually benefit from what is learned in the supported program. In addition, there were grants made to direct service agencies that could receive the support they needed from their own communities. The terms of previous presidents and their relationship to the founder are as follows: Arnold L. van Ameringen (founder), 1950-1966; Henry van Ameringen (Arnold's son), 1966-1968; Mrs. Lily (Douglas) Auchincloss (Arnold's daughter), 1969-1972; Mrs. Patricia (Philip) Kind (Arnold's daughter), 1973-1980s.

Acquisition information:
The records of the van Ameringen Foundation were donated in 1978, 1987, and 1988.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from the Oskar Diethelm Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Location of this collection:
DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy and the Arts
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
212-746-3728