The first Consortium corporate partners

Have you ever wondered which corporations were the first to throw their financial support behind The Consortium? Thanks to an inquiry from Kellee Scott, a Consortium board member, and help from Barbara Jones, author of our commemorative book, we have the list of the first Consortium corporate partners.

Barbara pointed us to the first Consortium annual report, which included the information in one of its appendices. It was published May 31, 1968.

The first page of The Consortium's list of corporate partners from the first annual report (click to see a larger version).

The first page of The Consortium’s list of corporate partners from the first annual report (click to see a larger version).

Between the 27 corporate partners, two foundations and individual donors, contributions for the 1967-68 fiscal year of The Consortium added up to $310,200.

The list of companies includes many that are recognizable today, and a few that no longer exist or have changed names. Consider two partners that have stuck with us every year since their first contribution: General Mills gave $7,500 in 1967; and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. — now known to us as 3M — gave $3,000.

This was in an era when 70 percent of American households earned less than $10,000 a year.

Fellowship Sponsors

  • American Airlines, $1,000
  • Bristol-Myers Company, $1,000
  • Continental Oil Company, $7,500
  • Cummins Engine Company, $7,500
  • Equitable Life Assurance Society, $3,000
  • Esso Education Foundation, $7,500
  • General Electric Company, $10,000
  • General Foods Corporation, $25,000
  • General Mills, Inc., $7,500
  • Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co., $3,000
  • Monsanto Company, $7,500
  • Ralston Purina Company, $7,500
  • Union Carbide Corporation, $1,000
  • Union Electric Company, $7,500
The second page of The Consortium's list of corporate partners from the first annual report (click to see a larger version).

The second page of The Consortium’s list of corporate partners from the first annual report (click to see a larger version).

Contributing Sponsors

  • Allis-Chalmers, $2,500
  • American Metal Climax, Inc., $2,500
  • Burlington Industries, Inc., $2,000
  • Celanese Corporation, $1,000
  • Continental Can Company, $3,000
  • E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, $3,000
  • Eastern Air Lines, Inc., $1,000
  • Owens-Corning FIBERGLAS Corporation, $200
  • Hoffman La Roche, Inc., $3,000
  • Oscar Mayer & Company, $3,000
  • Sterling Drug, Inc., $1,000
  • Trans World Airlines, $1,500

Two Foundations

  • Louis D. Beaumont Foundation, $30,000
  • Ford Foundation, $180,000