Charles E. Merrill (AC 1908) Trust Collection

The Charles E. Merrill Trust Collection consists of 5 linear feet of material documenting the decision-making activities of the charitable organization's trustees. The bulk of the collection dates from 1959 to 1980 and consists of bound volumes of grant recommendations compiled by the Charles E. Merrill Trust administrator, David A. Thomas, and sent to the Board of Trustees prior to their meetings. These copies have "Mrs. Robert A. Magowan" (Doris Merrill Magowan) typed on the front, indicating that they were originally her copies. Each bound volume begins with an introductory letter from Mr. Thomas, including an update on funds available for distribution, a summary of the grants approved at the previous meeting, and a summary of the recommendations for the coming meeting. The grant applications are then included in the report that follows. Many volumes include handwritten notes, and some include photographs, architect-tural plans, or other supplementary material for the grant proposals. As the granting responsibili-ties were divided more in later years between the Trustees, this is reflected in the reports, with recommended grants listed under each Trustee's name.

Also included in the collection are two copies of a report commissioned by Charles E. Merrill in 1954 entitled The Philanthropy of Charles E. Merrill, Book I, and written by David A. Thomas. This report examined Merrill's past giving and provided recommendations in establishing a trust.

The collection also includes three published books by Charles E. Merrill, Jr., which are not directly related to operations of the Charles E. Merrill Trust, as well as correspondence between Charles Merrill, Jr. and Mary J. Oates. This correspondence details the transfer of the rest of the Merrill Trust Collection to Oates, as well as providing more background on the Trust and about Charles Merrill, Jr.'s continuing philanthropic and political activities. There is also a small amount of correspondence between Oates and the administrator of a university in Czechoslovakia regarding book donations Oates made to the university library on behalf of Regis College, at the recommendation of Charles Merrill, Jr.