I think Herb would be pleased.
The Herb Block Foundation was created in 2002 when Herb died and left $50 million with instructions to create a foundation to continue to encourage the art of editorial cartooning and to support charitable and educational programs that help promote and support the causes he championed during his 72 years of cartooning. And in his will he named 18 of us to the board of directors.
The mission statement adopted by the board specifically declares that "The Herb Block Foundation is committed to defending basic freedoms, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice and improving the condition of the poor and underprivileged." The other part of the mission was to provide "educational opportunity to deserving students through post-secondary education scholarships" and to promote "editorial cartooning through continuing research."
This year, as the Foundation celebrates the 100th anniversary of Herb's birth, I thought it might be a good time to take stock of what we've done since the board held its first organizational meeting Jan. 15, 2002.
After considerable deliberation we designated three annual grant categories:
· Defending Basic Freedoms. Grants range from protecting First Amendment rights, voting rights and the rights of immigrants to encouraging community journalism and the defense of gay and lesbian groups. Grants are available nationwide.
· Pathways Out of Poverty. Grants range from basic literacy groups, GED programs, literacy counseling and groups providing child care and job training. These grants are limited to groups in the immediate Washington Metropolitan Area.
· Encouraging Citizen Involvement. Grants are used to promote civic activity through educational research, legal action and community action groups. Grants are available nationwide
The Foundation made its first grants in February of 2004. Since then we have awarded $6,685,220 in categorical grants and another $1,188,000 in grants outside the three main categories. In the three grant categories the amount of the grant is limited to $25,000 and we do not make multi-year grants. Grant seekers must submit a separate request each year.
On August 22, 2004, the Foundation announced the creation of the Herb Block Scholarships for community college students in the Washington Metropolitan Area. We initially awarded 50 scholarships of up to $5,000. The scholarship winners are determined by their academic record and financial need. All scholarships are "last dollar" scholarships, which means that an applicant lists all money available from the government, family or other scholarships and the foundations pays winners the difference between what they have and the $5,000.
Last year the Foundation increased the number of scholarships it was offering to 100 and this year we increased the amount of the scholarships to $8,000 which covers tuition, books and fees, transportation and child care if it is provided by the college while a student is attending classes. Scholarship winners can attend fulltime or part-time.
The scholarship program is administered by the ETS Scholarship & Recognition Programs in Princeton, N.J.
In 2003, the Foundation created the Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning. The contest is judged by a panel of outside and the prize is presented at a ceremony each spring at the Library of Congress. In addition to awarding the prize which contains a $15,000 after tax cash award (recently raised from $10,000) and a silver Tiffany trophy, the ceremony also involves a guest lecturer. And after the prize presentation and lecture, the guests adjourn to the Library's Great Hall for a buffet reception.
The six prize winners so far have been Matthew Davies of the Journal News of Westchester County, N.Y., Tony Auth of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jeff Danziger of the New York Times Syndicate, Jim Morin of the Miami Herald, Jon Sherffius of the Boulder Camera of Boulder, CO and Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The lectures have been delivered by Ben Bradlee of The Washington Post, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Tom Brokow of NBC News, Tim Russert of NBC News and Ted Koppel.
To celebrate the centennial of Herb's birth the Foundation has commissioned a short video of Herb's life, is publishing a book of Herb's cartoons complete, with a disc of every cartoon he drew in his 72-year career, and a special exhibit at the Library of Congress in October, 2009 to commemorate his work.
It's been a rewarding experience for all of us on the board.
I think Herb would be pleased.
Frank Swoboda
President