Manuscripts Collection
The F. A. Bean Foundation was incorporated in November of 1918, in New Prague, Minnesota. The foundation was named after F. A. Bean, Sr., (1840-1930), whose opening stock contribution had a cash value of $182,000. The first trustees and board were Francis Atherton Bean, Sr. and William L. Harvey, who were at that time vice president and secretary, respectively, of the International Milling Company. During the foundation's 59 years it grew to distribute approximately $16 million.
In 1923 the foundation, along with the Bean family, moved from New Prague to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The foundation then became a major contributor to programs in Minneapolis as well as throughout the state. Some campaigns which received significant funding were: the Boy Scouts of America, the United Hospital Fund, the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota), the Minnesota Orchestra and Orchestra Hall, the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota medical research programs, and the Mayo Foundation.
In 1966 the F. A. Bean Foundation merged with the Western Foundation, another smaller foundation begun by other members of the Bean family. In 1979 the F. A. Bean Foundation was dissolved.
Grant files and other records of the F. A. Bean Foundation. The records largely document the grants awarded to many educational, medical research, social service, religious, and fine arts organizations in Minnesota and elsewhere. Applicant files include correspondence, pamphlets, progress reports, and some annual reports. Records during and after 1966 reflect the granting activities of the Western Foundation.
These records are arranged in alphabetical order by name of the grantee. Ledgers, correspondence, and other miscellaneous records are housed in box 8.
The Western Foundation Records, the F. A. Bean Papers, the Atherton Bean Papers, and the International Multifoods Corporation Records are available in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscripts collections, cataloged separately.
With the exception of the annual reports, the grant distribution lists, financial statements, ledger books, minutes of the first meeting, transplant patients' photograph, trust agreements, and trustees list, all housed in box 8, access to records less than 25 years old requires written permission.
Accession number: 13,093; 15,544.
Processed by: Dennis E. Meissner, 1997; Lynn Leitte, August 2001.
Catalog ID number: 09-00042800
Includes letters and photographs from "foster" children. A number of letters and photographs pertain to aid given after the 1972 flood affecting Seoul, Korea.