Houston Endowment Inc. was founded in 1937 by

Jesse H. Jones Jesse Holman Jones (April 5, 1874June 1, 1956) was an American Democratic politician and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Jones managed a Tennessee tobacco factory at age fourteen, and at nineteen, he was put in charge of his uncle's lumbery ...

and Mary Gibbs Jones to facilitate the expansion of their philanthropic work. The charter does not designate the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

area as its principal beneficiary; however, the Joneses frequently chose Houston causes during their lifetimes. The Houston Endowment supports a wide range of programs, including but not limited to the arts, education, and human services. The foundation dispersed grants of $24 million from 1937 to 1962, and grant totaling $750 million by the end of the century. In 2001, the endowment was valued at $1.5 billion. By the mid 1950s, Houston Endowment owned many prominent buildings and businesses in Houston,

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In response to the

Tax Reform Act of 1969 The Tax Reform Act of 1969 () was a United States federal tax law signed by President Richard Nixon in 1969. Its largest impact was creating the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was intended to tax high-income earners who had previously avoided incur ...

, the foundation began selling its businesses and buildings and investing the proceeds in securities; the sale of the

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

to the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...

in 1987 completed this process.

Audrey Jones Beck Audrey Jones Beck (March 27, 1924 – August 22, 2003) was an American art collector and philanthropist who donated her personal art collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The John A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection included impressionis ...

, granddaughter of Jesse and Mary Gibbs Jones, joined the board of Houston Endowment in 1960 and was active in philanthropy until her death in 2003. She made significant contributions to the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

among other institutions.Kever, Jeannie (August 25, 2003). '
Houston philanthropist Audrey Jones Beck dies
.'' Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 15 July 2021

References

External links

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{{Authority control History of Houston Organizations established in 1937