Establishment The original idea for establishment of an endowed fund to make financial awards to individuals and groups best advancing the ideals of
Wilsonianism was credited to Mrs. Charles E. Simonson of New York, who was previously active in a women's group called the Political Equality Club of Richmond County. The fund was envisioned as a way to make permanent the memory and legacy of
Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States from 1913 to 1920. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was provisionally established on December 23, 1920, with formal organization completed at a meeting held in
New York City on March 15, 1921. The organization was established independently of former President
Woodrow Wilson but named in his honor by organizers, who pointed to Wilson having "further the cause of human freedom" and for having been "instrumental in pointing out effective methods for the cooperation of the liberal forces of mankind throughout the world." It was hoped to raise $1 million to
endow the foundation.
Structure Chairman of the National Committee of the Wilson Foundation from 1921 was former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and future
President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt asserted that by donating to the endowment fund of the Wilson Foundation, "the American people will be given and opportunity to express their appreciation of Mr. Wilson's services to humanity." The organization was formally governed by a National Committee, consisting of more than 250 representatives from each state, which elected in turn a National Executive Committee to handle the day-to-day operations of the organization. During the main fundraising campaign to build the organization's endowment fund, which launched in October 1921, the Wilson Foundation named chairs for each state to coordinate fundraising activities on a state basis. These, in turn, named county chairs to help localize fundraising activity. Three more states were organized in the first half of October, running the total to 40. On December 2, 1921, a meeting of the National Committee was convened in New York City, including representatives from around the country. Chief on the agenda was the need to determine the mechanism for awarding the Foundation's prize awards.
1922 endowment drive Plans were made for the gathering of "$1,000,000 or more" to provide a permanent endowment for the Wilson Foundation's prizes. In addition, the Wilson Foundation made use of newspaper advertising and planned a fundraising canvas The Monday, January 16 focused fundraising event was to be preceded by mass meetings in major cities on Saturday, January 14, and by advocacy of the project by religious ministers speaking from the pulpit on what was deemed "Woodrow Wilson Sunday," January 15. Both of these tactics — the use of fundraising rallies and coordination of fundraising through Sunday sermons by friendly ministers — were revisitations to tried-and-true methods used in generating funds for the Liberty Loans during wartime. Despite planning for a mass launch of fundraising activities, funds were already being raised by the various state organizations by December 1921, with temporary receipts being provisionally provided until the engraved certificates for donors were ready for distribution the following month. The organization took pains to emphasize that operation costs of the organization were previously covered by supporters of the project and that "every dollar received by the National Treasurer" in the January 1922 endowment drive was to be put towards the endowment for the Wilson Foundation's awards. The drive seems to have begun to run out of steam late in February 1922, with many locales failing to meet their fundraising targets and the national fundraising effort coming up far short of its $1 million goal. On February 11 the Foundation's official
News Letter announced that
Oklahoma had thus far led all states with fulfillment of 67% of its financial target; an optimistic spin was placed on the ongoing fundraising effort, which was characterized as just launching at that late date in some localities. The halfway point in fundraising was only reached on February 15, 1922, National Committee chair Franklin D. Roosevelt announced. The second month of fundraising had only brought the endowment to $660,000, with no state exceeding 82% of its fundraising quota. By the end of 1922, only $800,000 had been raised. Owing to the failure of the fund to achieve its $1 million target, awards of $25,000 were declared for the first three years — somewhat less than the estimated $27,000 in interest revenue generated by the endowment. Although approximately 1,000 people gathered at the
Hotel Astor in
Manhattan for the annual banquet of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to eulogize the late President on what would have been his 69th birthday in December 1925, no prize was granted in that year owing to a failure of the award jury to agree upon a worthy candidate. A second medal and $25,000 award was made in 1926 to former Senator,
Republican Secretary of State, and 1912
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Elihu Root. Root was recognized for his advocacy of American entry into the League of Nations — regarded by the decision-makers of the Wilson Foundation as a fundamental principle of Wilsonian internationalism. Root promptly signed over his prize check to the fledgling magazine
Foreign Affairs, which was itself attempting to build an endowment fund to insure its longterm survival. A special donation made possible an essay contest in 1927, in which a pair of $25,000 prizes were offered to female and male authors for the best work on the theme "What Woodrow Wilson Means To Me." The lucrative essay competition was to be opened to anyone between the ages of 20 and 30, with submissions to close on October 1. No other medal or award was granted in that year. In 1928 the Wilson Foundation presented its medal and a $25,000 prize to aviator
Charles Lindbergh, ostensibly for his "contributions to international friendship." Ironically, Lindbergh would later become the face of a most un-Wilsonian
isolationism in the 1930s. The following year the Wilson Foundation chose to honor the
League of Nations, with the $25,000 prize expected to be used for the construction of a monument to President Wilson at League headquarters in Geneva. The organization continued to grant its "Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Service" to deserving individuals annually, although whether there was a cash award connected to this honor is unclear. In 1947, an award was created for the "best book on government, politics, or international affairs." It is today awarded by the
American Political Science Association (APSA).
Final years and legacy In 1963, the Foundation undertook the financial responsibility for the completion of
The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, a 69-volume edition of all of Wilson's papers, which was jointly sponsored by
Princeton University. Princeton housed Wilson's papers and provided the staff for the project. The first volume was published in 1966 and the final volume in 1994. The papers of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation are housed in the archives of
Princeton University in
Princeton, New Jersey. They consist of 64 archival boxes of documents, primarily from the years 1921 to 1963. ==Footnotes==