The John Huntington Fund for Education (f. 1953) was created from the estate of businessman, politician, and philanthropist John Huntington (1832-1893). Born in England, John Huntington immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1854 after losing his job in a textile mill and being blackballed as a result of his leadership role in an 1853 labor strike. Huntington experienced a series of career changes ranging from day laborer to roofer to asphalt producer until 1863, when he joined the firm of Clark, Payne & Company to refine crude oil to "coal oil" (kerosene). John Huntington had great inventive talents that led to patents in methods of improving oil refining processes, designs for furnaces, and the manufacturing of oil barrels. Clark, Payne & Company became the largest oil refinery in the region, in part due to many of Huntington's inventions. When Clark, Payne & Company merged with John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company in 1870, John Huntington received five hundred shares of Standard Oil stock. Huntington also became co-owner of a fleet of lake vessels in 1886 and served as vice president of Cleveland Stone Company.
John Huntington became a member of the City Council of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1862 and served in this capacity until 1875. He opposed plans for a bridge over the Cuyahoga River that called for support on an island in the river because it would block navigation. He instead introduced a resolution for the construction of the Superior Viaduct and served on the committee that supervised its construction. Huntington's vision for Cleveland manifested itself in the paving of streets, construction of a municipal sewer system, the deepening of the Cuyahoga River channel, the reorganization of the waterworks department, and the establishment of a paid fire department. When the City of Cleveland purchased its first steam powered fire engines, Huntington observed several defects and designed improvements to correct them. He gave his design improvement plans to the manufacturers on the condition that they install the improvements free of cost on Cleveland equipment.
Huntington's interest in charity and philanthropy began in 1869 when he helped to establish the training home for delinquent girls known as the Convent of the Good Shepherd. In 1870 he supported the Little Sisters of the Poor when they moved to Perry Street in Cleveland to operate a home for the aged poor of all creeds. In 1889 Huntington established the John Huntington Benevolent Trust through the transfer of Cleveland Stone Company stock worth $200,000. Seven trustees were appointed by Huntington, including Charles W. Bingham (1846-1929) and Samuel E. Williamson (1844-1903). Other prominent men succeeded these trustees, including William Gwinn Mather (1857-1951), John Severance (1863-1936), Samuel Mather (1851-1931), Harold T. Clark (1882-1965), and William B. Sanders (1854-1929). This trust supported fourteen organizations to varying degrees, including the Children's Aid Society and the Dorcas Invalid Home. The codicil to John Huntington's will bequeathed an additional $70,000 to the trust for use by the Cleveland Bethel, Western Reserve University's medical department, and the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College. Huntington required the trust to accumulate at least half of its investment income until its assets reached $3 million. Due to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, which prohibited such accumulation of assets by private foundations, the assets of the John Huntington Benevolent Trust were transferred to the Cleveland Foundation. As a supporting fund of the Cleveland Foundation, the John Huntington Benevolent Trust could continue to accumulate assets in accordance with John Huntington's wishes.
The John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust was established through the 1889 will and 1890 codicil of John Huntington. The trustees of this trust were the same seven trustees of the John Huntington Benevolent Trust in addition to Huntington's second wife Mariett Leek Huntington (d. 1924) and George H. Worthington. Some of the successors to these trustees also served as trustees of the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, but some did not. The two trusts were operated separately. The John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust had two missions. One was to establish and maintain a museum of art in the city of Cleveland. Horace Kelley (1819-1890) and Hinman Hurlbut (1819-1884) had died about the same time as John Huntington, and each had made similar provisions in their wills. The Horace Kelley Art Foundation and the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust joined together to construct the Cleveland Museum of Art on land donated by Jeptha H. Wade (1811-1890). The John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust paid for 7/10ths of the construction, thereby making it the largest contributor to the museum until the death of Leonard Hanna, Jr. (1889-1957). With its large holdings in Standard Oil stocks, the market value of the trust was in excess of $29 million by 1971.
The second mission of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust was to organize and maintain a free evening polytechnic school for the promotion of scientific education. Employment in the city of Cleveland in one of the applied arts or an industrial occupation, proof of financial need, and satisfactory references from employers were requirements of enrollment. The John Huntington Polytechnic Institute began its teaching program in 1918 and was operated by the trustees of the John Huntington Arts and Polytechnic Trust. It provided free evening classes to thousands of students on over 160 technical subjects for thirty-five years. In 1953 the trustees of the John Huntington Art and Polyclinic Trust concluded it was not practical to duplicate the instruction being given by local schools and colleges, many of which were not in existence when John Huntington conceived of his polytechnic school idea. The Cleveland Museum of Art also needed more funds for an addition to its building. A complaint was filed and approved in Common Pleas Court, and the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute was discontinued. The John Huntington Fund for Education, composed of the same trustees as the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, was created in its place. Funded by the proceeds from the sale of the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute and annual grants from the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, the John Huntington Fund for Education made scholarship grants directly to the college accounts of residents of Cuyahoga County enrolled in undergraduate scientific and technical programs in the colleges of their choice. In 1966 the John Huntington Fund for Education was authorized to grant scholarships for graduate education as well.
The Tax Reform Act of 1969 established the category of private foundation on which a 4% tax on investment income and extensive liability for trustees was imposed. The John Huntington Arts and Polytechnic Trust was classified as a private foundation, but could avoid this designation if it were to operate for the sole benefit of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In 1971, the Common Pleas Court authorized the John Huntington Arts and Polytechnic Trust to deliver $9 million to the John Huntington Fund for Education and $600,000 to the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, thereby terminating the trust's obligations to these beneficiaries. This distribution brought the assets of the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, now operated by the Cleveland Foundation, to the mandated three million dollars, and designated the John Huntington Fund for Education as a private foundation. After 1971, the Cleveland Museum of Art used the income from the John Huntington Arts and Polytechnic Trust exclusively, and the John Huntington Arts and Polytechnic Trust avoided the private foundation designation. Additionally, the boards of trustees of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust and the John Huntington Fund for Education were no longer required to be identical in membership.
The Tax Reform Act of 1969 affected the John Huntington Fund for Education as well. The John Huntington Fund for Education was designated a private foundation, and thus the trustees faced extensive liability as they granted scholarships to individuals. Additionally, the 4% income tax imposed on private foundations meant that the trustees would have to scale down their scholarship efforts. In 1972 the John Huntington Fund for Education commenced another court action which resulted in the authorization to discontinue individual scholarships (after providing the funds which would allow current scholarship recipients to complete their education) and instead make grants to educational institutions and scholarship granting organizations. These educational institutions and scholarship granting organizations would in turn provide scholarships to residents of Cuyahoga County seeking scientific, vocational, or technical education. These institutions could also develop curricula and programs for scientific, vocational, remedial, or technical education for disadvantaged residents of Cuyahoga County.
This action relieved the trustees of liability, but did nothing to alleviate the Fund itself of its private foundation status under the Tax Reform Act of 1969. The trustees discussed remedies to this situation in depth. One option was to distribute the assets of the Fund to the scholarship funds of several local colleges and universities and thus discontinue the John Huntington Fund for Education. Another option was to become a supporting fund of the Cleveland Foundation through the donation of all investment income on an annual basis. This latter option was considered seriously by both the John Huntington Fund for Education and the Cleveland Foundation, but was abandoned in 1972. The Cleveland Foundation had successfully taken over the assets of several small foundations, including the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, in the wake of the Tax Reform Act of 1969, making these foundations supporting funds of the Cleveland Foundation. The Cleveland Foundation reasoned that the annual donation of investment income might be viewed by the press, the Internal Revenue Service, and Congress as a gimmick to avoid the 4% excise tax while allowing the operation of the John Huntington Fund for Education to remain unchanged. As the largest community foundation in the United States, the Cleveland Foundation had reason to fear a congressional committee or Internal Revenue Service inquiry and the resulting bad press. Unwilling to part with the assets of the Fund, the trustees of the John Huntington Fund for Education decided to operate the Fund under the conditions set by the 1971 court decision and the Tax Reform Act of 1969 until the fate of the Fund could be decided. No decision was ever reached, and the excise tax was reduced to 2% in 1978, making the status quo a more attractive prospect. The John Huntington Fund for Education continues to operate as a private foundation, and in 1991 had assets of almost $28 million. The John Huntington Fund for Education made ten grants for scholarships totaling over one million dollars in 1991 to institutions such as Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, and Cleveland Scholarships Programs, Inc.
The John Huntington Fund for Education Records, 1889-1992 (1950-1992), consist of minutes (in draft and final form), annual reports, financial statements, correspondence, grant proposals and reports, articles of incorporation, legal petitions (in draft and final form), newspaper clippings; tax returns, histories, and photocopies of the will and codicil of John Huntington.
This collection is of value to those interested in the philanthropic legacy of John Huntington, the history of the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute as it evolved into the John Huntington Fund for Education, and the history of philanthropy in Cleveland and northeast Ohio. Those interested in the legal and financial ramifications of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 will find these records extremely valuable. Those studying educational philanthropy, vocational education, and scientific education in Cuyahoga County will find these records useful. Students interested in the scientific and vocational programs of Dyke College, Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland Scholarship Services, Inc. will find these records helpful. Students interested in the Cleveland Foundation, the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, and the Cleveland Museum of Art will also find these records useful. Those interested in the trustees of the John Huntington Fund for Education, such as Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Harold T. Clark (1882-1965), Charles B. Bolton (1909-1965), John W. Reavis (1899-1984), and Laurence H. Norton (1888-1960), will find these records valuable.
The collection is arranged in four series.
The researcher should also consult MS 3627 Cleveland Foundation Records; MS 4092 Cleveland Foundation Records, Series II; MS 4688 Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Records; MS 4772 Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Records, Series II; and MS 4798 Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Records, Series III.
Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 1999
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4801 John Huntington Fund For Education Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
John Huntington Fund For Education, 1996
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.