F.A. Bean Foundation (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The F. A. Bean Foundation was incorporated in November of 1918, in New Prague, Minnesota. The foundation was named after F. A. Bean, Sr., (1840-1930), whose opening stock contribution had a cash value of $182,000. The first trustees and board were Francis Atherton Bean, Sr. and William L. Harvey, who were at that time vice president and secretary, respectively, of the International Milling Company. During the foundation's 59 years it grew to distribute approximately $16 million.

In 1923 the foundation, along with the Bean family, moved from New Prague to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The foundation then became a major contributor to programs in Minneapolis as well as throughout the state. Some campaigns which received significant funding were: the Boy Scouts of America, the United Hospital Fund, the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota), the Minnesota Orchestra and Orchestra Hall, the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota medical research programs, and the Mayo Foundation.

In 1966 the F. A. Bean Foundation merged with the Western Foundation, another smaller foundation begun by other members of the Bean family. In 1979 the F. A. Bean Foundation was dissolved.