ABSTRACT
In 1803 came the first social service endowment, the White-Williams Foundation being established in the interest of "unhappy females who were desirous of returning to a life of rectitude". Foundations, of course, come only from surplus wealth, and therefore one cannot expect to find many examples in the early history of the United States. With the growth of American prosperity, the obligations of stewardship were also recognized by others, but were not at first reflected in the creation of foundations, but rather in gifts, sometimes of princely generosity, to agencies more familiar to the public and to the donor. The foundations became associated in the public mind with education in general and particularly with the social studies, suspicion was aroused in certain quarters, and charges of various kinds were made. The report deals also with the benumbing effect which it was asserted foundation gifts have upon funds from private citizens and public bodies.
