DWE US Office

DATE: 1920-1969

LEVEL: Series

Correspondence, grant requests and reports, financial information, and telegrams to and from Anna T Bogue, Dorothy Elmhirst's New York private secretary and manager. Principal subjects include the Elmhirsts' American households, and the humanitarian activities of the Elmhirst Committee on Commitments. Records reflect the growing sophistication of the philanthropic process in the inter war years. Correspondence exists with Lindeman and Croly, and with other committee members including Ruth Morgan. Grant applications were received from many progressive causes. There are records of frequent meetings of the Committees, and discussions are detailed (often verbatim) in reports from Committee secretary Anna Bogue to both Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst. The Elmhirst Committee (which was also known as the American Committee) ceased in Dec 1936. Elmhirst philanthropic activities were reorganised with the founding on 1 Jan 1937 of the William C Whitney Foundation. Founding documents of the Whitney Foundation in this series include a statement of purpose and records establishing a philosophy for giving. Most records of grant activities are typed copies, as the original applications were retained in New York.

Dorothy Elmhirst established the Elmhirst Committee on Commitments in 1925 as she was preparing for an extended stay abroad. The Committee was a means for her to continue to have a philanthropic influence in America, by assisting the arts, feminism and peace, social and labour reform, liberal publications, progressive schools and colleges, and scholarly research. The Committee on Commitments was established and managed with the advice of Dr Eduard C Lindeman of the New York School of Social Work, and of Herbert Croly, editor of 'The New Republic'. Composition of the Committee in the 1920s included her close advisors, Lindeman (chairman), Herbert Croly, Ruth Morgan and American private secretary Anna Bogue. The composition of the committee changed with time. In later years, George Soule, Louise Croly, and others were added to what became a grant advisory committee. With the establishment of the Whitney Foundation in 1937, Milton Rose, Thomas J Regan, and Beatrice and Michael Straight, were appointed as members of the board of trustees. Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst met with the Committee when they were in America, and were kept informed of funding decisions by Anna Bogue.

Information for Researchers

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