DJB Foundation
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' It officially closed in December 2008.[1]
History
The DJB Foundation was created in 1948 by Daniel Bernstein as a holding operation for the inheritance received from his father. He continued to work in the stock market to earn a living but he used the Foundation funds and his own funds when limited by the tax laws to give to his causes and beliefs. The DJB Foundation', a progressive social change philanthropy, was founded in 1948 by Daniel J. Bernstein (1918-1970). Throughout the 1960s Dan & Carol Bernstein were active on behalf of human rights & justice. Janet & Roberto Monland were frequent visitors, the leaders of the rebellion against the Portuguese colony Mozambique; Mary Benson, South African historian, and her co-activatist Rev. Michael Scott, leaders of the anti-Aparthide movement & teachers to Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, & Desmond Tutu. Dan Bernstein felt strongly that giving money to others was not likely to achieve justice or well-thought-out programs for change. Dan in particular, and Carol, consulted with Lee Webb about how to improve student opposition to the War in Vietnam, along with Robert Maury Hundley, who was a student at Union Theological Seminary. It was decided that Dan & Robert would launch a Student Leader Opposition to the War in Vietnam. They printed Pledges for Student Leaders to sign, asserting that the leader of Student Government or Editor of the School Newspaper should not have to serve in an Unjust & Immoral War. Robert made an initial trip to the Student Editors Conference at the University of Minnesota, where 54 Student Editors agreed to the Pledge. Throughout the Fall, and through the Winter Robert continued to attend Student Conferences, and Robert & Dan made repeated mailings to American College Campuses. By late March we had collected more than 580 Students Leaders, and their names were published immediately after President Lyndon Johnson announces he would not run for a 2nd term. The 4 page Ad in the New York Times was the first political ad published by the Times. The ad was paid for by Clergy & Laity Concerned About the War in Vietnam, at a cost of $1,000,000, including ads in every major newspaper in America. It was the single most effective Anti-War initiative against the War in Vietnam according to those in the anti-war movement. The names of the student leaders became the basis for the Vietnam Moratorium the following Fall, and the McGovern for President student support. Dan worked with Robert to achieve the very best of his activist vision for a less violent and more caring world.
With his death in 1970 almost five-million dollars came to the foundation. Its most active period began in 1971 when the Board of Directors decided that all assets would be given away within ten years. The grants concentrated on groups and programs generally ignored by conventional foundations because they were "controversial" -- to Clergy & Laity Opposed to the War in Vietnam, the poor, GIs, deserters and draft resisters, ethnic groups, African liberation groups, convicts and ex-convicts. The DJB Foundation exhausted the majority of its funds by the end of 1974. [2]
When Bernstein died in 1970 at the age of 51, approximately $5 million of his estate went to the DJB Foundation. This sum was substantially all of the Foundation's capital, as at his death it had about $100,000. The Foundation began its most active period. The Board of the Foundation consisted of four members: Carol Bernstein, his widow; Stephen R. Abrams, Robert S. Browne, and W. H. Ferry, who became Carol's husband in 1973. Vincent F. McGee, Jr., joined the Foundation as its executive staff member in the beginning of 1973.
With its funds virtually exhausted by 1975, the board members of the DJB Foundation more than achieved its ten-year goal of depleting its resources in only four years. The Foundation existed on a much smaller scale until 2008, when it officially closed.
Grants
The foundation had supported a variety of groups including SourceWatch,the Center for Media and Democracy, anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, and anti-colonialist initiatives in then-Rhodesia and Mozambique.
References
- ^ Form 990-PF filed for DJB Foundation, Guidestar, accessed July 5, 2010.
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