The Field Foundation, Inc., was established in 1940 by Marshall Field III, the grandson of the famous merchant who arrived in Chicago in the 1800s and founded the Marshall Field’s department stores.

Field III, who pursued the bond business rather than the retail business, was living in New York City. Driven by the despair of the Great Depression, he was inspired to help those struggling with poverty and endorsed a wide range of New Deal policies, activists, and progressive thinkers. Early on, the foundation provided support to organizations promoting civil rights, civil liberties, child welfare, and to other groups and individuals working for social change.

By 1949, the foundation had grown to $11 million, enabling it to award about $150,000 in grants each year . Field III led the foundation until his death in 1956 . Soon after, the foundation would be pulled in separate directions . Field III’s widow, Ruth Field, based in New York, saw the foundation as a continued agent of social change for the nation, while Field’s son, Marshall Field IV, desired to bring its focus to Chicago.

Evolution to The Field Foundation of Illinois

In 1960, the two sides agreed to divide the Foundation into separate entities: The Field Foundation of Illinois, led by Field IV, and The Field Foundation of New York, led by Ruth Field. At Ruth Field’s direction, The Field Foundation of New York closed in 1989, having given away its assets, including millions to charities involved in race relations and child welfare.

For the Field Foundation of Illinois, Field IV moved forward in making the foundation an active member of Chicago’s philanthropic community . In June 1965, just before he died, Field IV contributed $8 million to the foundation on the condition that the Field Building, a 44-story art deco masterpiece at 135 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, be transferred to the foundation at its fair market value, which was $32 .5 million.

Leadership transition

Following Marshall Field IV’s death, his son, Marshall Field V, entered the family business. Field V took over Field Enterprises Inc., and, at age 24, was elected to be the publisher of the Chicago Sun, which eventually became the Chicago-Sun Times, making him the youngest publisher of any major newspaper in the United States.

Field V has continued to serve on the foundation’s board, and as a life director, and has overseen decades of change as the foundation further matured and blended grantmaking across a mix of community-based organizations doing direct service work while supporting the city’s major institutions.

Over the years, the foundation has responded to the changing needs of the community, supporting a diverse range of community-based efforts . The foundation has long viewed itself as a strategic supporter of innovative programs and organizations, with a primary emphasis on the city’s most disinvested communities and their resident Chicagoans.

The foundation has also prioritized diversity and inclusiveness in its own leadership, board, and staff to ensure they are representative of the people of Chicago.

Current strategy and focus

The foundation’s current grantmaking model and strategy reflects its latest evolution: centering racial equity to achieve community empowerment through Art, Justice, Journalism & Storytelling, and Leadership Investment. The foundation defines community empowerment as supporting community-based organizations with investments they can direct to the needs of the communities they serve.

The foundation makes more than $6.5 million in grants and awards each year, which are made more substantial through key strategic partnerships, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which generously supports the Leaders for a New Chicago awards and Field’s Arts and Journalism & Storytelling grantmaking . Additionally, the Democracy Fund, the Chicago Community Trust, and the Ford Foundation have generously contributed to Field’s work in Journalism & Storytelling with the goal of creating a more equitable, connected, and inclusive local media ecosystem. The foundation’s leadership, board, and staff remain committed to measuring the foundation’s impact, especially within divested communities most in need of financial resources.