September 30, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Foundations of Texan Philanthropy, by Mary L. Kelley, is a scholarly examination of the philanthropic movement in Texas during the half-century following the creation of the state’s first private foundation in 1920. Ms. Kelley, an assistant professor at Lamar University, in Beaumont, Tex., focuses on the state’s major donors and writes that their largess helped to define Texas as much as their “combativeness and grit.” By looking at the giving patterns of Texas’ wealthiest people, she shows how philanthropies helped shape cultural, economic, and social developments in the state. For instance, the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, in San Antonio, financed educational projects neglected by government agencies, such as a bilingual program for preschoolers, while the Carter Foundation’s grants to arts institutions spurred cultural development in its home city of Fort Worth and in western Texas.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 4354 TAMU, College Station, Tex. 77843; (979) 458-3982; http://www.tamu.edu/upress; 134 pages; $30.
