The William Bingham Foundation was established in 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Elizabeth Bingham Blossom with the proceeds of an inheritance from her brother, William Bingham 2nd. Grants were originally given to institutions of learning, hospitals, and public charities in Ohio. The foundation also contributed to the establishment and development of Blossom Music Center. After the death of Elizabeth Bingham Blossom in 1970, other family members maintained control of the foundation, and the focus of grantmaking changed to include organizations in the fields of the environment, the arts, education, health, and welfare. Projects related to urban revitalization, adult psychological development, and nuclear issues were also undertaken. Environmental issues took center stage in grants funding by the William Bingham Foundation in the 1980s, with several significant grants being made to the Environmental Defense Fund. The collection consists of agendas, agreements, annual reports, articles of incorporation, blank letterhead, budgets, certificates, codes of regulations, correspondence, financial statements, genealogical chart, grant proposals, histories, investment reviews, journal clippings, legal documents, lists, magazine articles, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, pamphlets, photographs, publications, receipts, reports, resolutions, rosters, speech texts, summaries, and tax records.
