history
 The philanthropy of The Hartford Courant evolved into a
permanent, formalized activity in 1950 with the incorporation of The Hartford
Courant Foundation as a public foundation. Under the leadership of The
Courant’s publisher and president, John R. Reitemeier, the Foundation made
grants of its corporate funds to local
non-profit agencies and raised public
funds for the support of Camp Courant – a free summer day camp for Hartford
children. At the time, all Foundation Trustees were also members of the
newspaper’s Board of Directors. In those early years, the Foundation’s
annual grants were funded by contributions from The Hartford Courant and were
consistent with the then size of the newspaper. For the five years between 1974
and 1979, total contributions made by the Foundation were $380,000.
The Foundation entered a
new era in 1979, when the 215 year old Hartford Courant was purchased by Times Mirror Corporation of
Los Angeles. Continuation of the Foundation was an integral part of the purchase agreement,  and
subsequently The Hartford Courant Foundation was restructured to become a private, independent
foundation, governed by a board of twelve trustees, the majority of whom were to represent the
community-at-large.
By-laws allowed for some corporate Board representation (that number now stands
at three), but made provision that these members could not form the majority of any quorum. In
addition, Camp Courant was separated from the Foundation and incorporated as an independent public
foundation. The assets of the Foundation, which represented stock in The Courant, were converted
into a significant cash fund available for diversified investment. This became the Foundation’s
endowment, which has a current market value of about $18 million.
In 2000, Times Mirror and
The Tribune Company merged, and the Tribune stepped into Times Mirror’s “shoes” at The Hartford
Courant Foundation.
The executive director of the foundation is Kate Miller. The
Hartford Courant loans first floor office space at its headquarters. |
