McCormick Foundation
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation invests in organizations working to build thriving communities where all individuals have the resources and opportunities to succeed, without regard to income, race, ethnicity, gender, or ZIP code.
Through philanthropic programs, Cantigny Park and museums, the Foundation helps develop citizen leaders and works to make life better in our communities. The Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest foundations, with more than $1 billion in assets.
History
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation was established in 1955 under The Last Will and Testament of Col. Robert R. McCormick, long time publisher and editor of the Chicago Tribune. We ground our work in the intent and values of our founder, Col. McCormick – a citizen soldier, crusading publisher and philanthropist who cared deeply for Chicagoland.
Excerpts from: The Last Will and Testament of Col. Robert R. McCormick
“A trust fund to be known as the Robert R. McCormick Charitable Trust shall be established for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or education purposes or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. It is my hope that my trustees will use a portion of the income…to encourage and promote the education of the people of the State of Illinois in the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America, and particularly in the principles of freedom of speech and of the press, and to assist in repelling any attacks upon the right of freedom of speech and freedom of press by providing educational opportunities for the study of the growth and importance of these principles.”