Changed Lives, Strengthened Communities
Ten Years of Partnership with the Freeman Foundation

A Collection of Stories from the Vermont Land Trust and the Preservation Trust of Vermont
 

Dear Friends,

In December 2003, the Freeman Foundation, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont passed a milestone: the 10th anniversary of our partnerships. During that period, the Foundation committed over $50 million to land conservation and over $7 million to historic preservation projects throughout Vermont. More than 91 percent of Vermont's communities have benefited from at least one Freeman-funded project.

Internationally, the Foundation has focused its efforts on improving U.S.-Asian relations through educational and cultural exchanges, scholarships, university Asian Studies programs, art preservation, land mine clearance in Vietnam, and other endeavors. In Vermont, it has supported school innovation initiatives, nurse and doctor training, library improvements and refugee resettlement. Twelve to fifteen Vermonters attend Middlebury College each year on full Freeman Foundation scholarships. However, the majority of the Foundation's grants in Vermont have been for land conservation and historic preservation.

There is sometimes a tendency to see our work as simply preserving open space and old buildings. The stories here illustrate that this is just the beginning. Conservation projects change the lives of families, invigorate farms, launch new businesses and foster a renewed sense of community. Historic preservation projects support the vast array of community resources--libraries, churches, meeting spaces, town halls, performing and community arts spaces, affordable housing, museums, historical societies, and village stores. Virtually every project helps to build a stronger community.

There may also be a lesson for the philanthropic community. Foundations will often fund a start-up initiative and, after a few years, move on. The Freeman Foundation decided to focus on a few areas and stay with them over a longer period. It is noteworthy that the biggest accomplishments of our work together occurred in the second five years, not the first. The result is that the Foundation's impact has reached every county and virtually every community in Vermont.

The Vermont Land Trust and the Preservation Trust of Vermont are profoundly grateful to the Freeman family and the Freeman Foundation, not just for the impact they have had on our two organizations, but on the lives of Vermonters and their communities, today and for generations to come.

Foreword
A Legacy of Friendship: The Freeman Foundation

For generations the Freeman family has worked to find answers to some of the world's most pressing issues, both global and local. Guided by wisdom, humility, and faith in people, the Freeman family has created a legacy of friendship. Though their philanthropy has taken many forms, as is evident in the following pages, each story shares common objectives. Mansfield Freeman stated the Foundation's goal this way: "to strengthen the bonds of friendship . . . to develop a greater appreciation . . . and to stimulate an exchange of ideas . . . ." The Freeman Foundation has both fulfilled and expanded upon this purpose.

Houghton Freeman, chair of the Foundation, and his son, Graeme, the executive director, trace their Vermont heritage back to the late 1700s, when the first Freemans moved north from Massachusetts and settled in Essex to farm the land now known as the Lang Farm Nursery. Unlike the three generations before him, Mansfield Freeman was not raised on this farm; his father's work as a minister moved the family throughout the United States. However, the Freemans' Vermont roots would draw Mansfield back to Essex periodically. The farm in Greensboro that Houghton bought in the 1940s, and where Mansfield would later retire, still sustains one of the family's land-based connections to Vermont.

As a young man in 1919, Mansfield accepted a teaching position at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Deeply impacted by Far East cultures, he and his wife, Mary, remained in China for the next 22 years, raising a family and pursuing their interests in Asian languages and philosophies. In 1923, two years after the birth of their son, Houghton, Mansfield partnered with C. V. Starr to manage a successful international insurance company, eventually called the American International Group (AIG). He remained with AIG for 37 years, not to retire until 1960, nearly 20 years after his return to the United States.

In 1978, Mansfield created a trust that upon his death would fund one of the most influential philanthropic organizations in the country. Its mission is to bridge the gap between western and eastern worlds; more specifically, to promote positive intercultural relationships, educational opportunities and economic exchanges aimed to "lessen the danger of such frictions and disagreements as lead to war." Thanks to his years in Greensboro, Mansfield also provided a stipulation for "the preservation and protection of Vermont's forests, farmlands, waterways, and natural resources." Shortly after Mansfield's death in 1993, the Freeman Foundation was fully funded to fulfill his vision.

After 11 years, the Foundation has contributed nearly $500 million in grants to dozens of educational, cultural, and conservation projects. Included on this list are numerous undergraduate Asian studies programs, humanitarian efforts in Asia, programs introducing Asian culture through children's museums and Asian art museums, as well as Asian immigrant and refugee assistance in the United States. The Freeman Foundation's 2003 annual report states, "Perhaps nowhere has the Foundation's mission been more fully realized than in its support of the National Consortium For Teaching About Asia. . .a collaboration of the East Asian Studies programs of five major academic institutions." From in-school seminars to study tours in Asia, thousands of K-12 teachers have broadened their perspectives and are integrating globally inspired lessons into their own classes.

In Vermont, the Freeman Foundation has partnered with the Vermont Land Trust to aid in the conservation of more than 300,000 acres of public and private land across the state. The Foundation has also worked with the Preservation Trust of Vermont to restore historic structures--the cultural monuments of our changing rural and social landscape. Statewide public library improvements, for example, have enhanced community centers from Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury. Additionally, scholarships have supported Vermont students pursuing careers in nursing and medicine. The Freemans' interest in education has also led to the Foundation's funding of state literacy programs.

In a single year the Freeman Foundation facilitates approximately 125 land and historic preservation projects. Multiply this by 11 years and you begin to grasp the significance of this family's commitment to the health and welfare of so many diverse people and places. In Houghton Freeman's words, "It always has been our conviction that a focused approach can mean greater effectiveness--and that a foundation with a carefully articulated purpose and a willingness to stay the course has the best chance of success."

Though the Freemans have maintained this conviction, they have managed to spread their stewardship across oceans, civilizations and deep political divides.

Much of this success is due to Mansfield Freeman's original vision. Characterized by his grandson, Graeme, as a "warm and generous human being. . .an intellectual who always challenged us," Mansfield was dedicated to the idea that the elimination of misunderstanding promotes the truest understanding. He had faith in friendship between nations and earnest hopes for a less violent world. Most important, Mansfield practiced what he preached, and he did so intelligently, with an eye for the bigger picture of life.

Today, the Freemans maintain the family legacy. Houghton, also known as Buck, and his wife, Doreen, take a personal interest in Foundation projects. As chair of the board and board member, respectively, Buck and Doreen play an integral part of maintaining the vision of the Foundation. In addition to reviewing proposals and grant reports, the Freemans are very proactive with the day-to-day function of the Foundation and visit many grant recipients through the course of the year. Buck, Doreen, and Graeme have visited all conserved and preserved properties and have familiarized themselves with the places and people.

The influence of the Freemans' work is evident in a collection of stories about dairy farms, community spaces and recreation sites, wildlife habitat and managed forestland, old mills and new cultural treasures, and housing for the elderly. "Our greatest hope," says Graeme, " is that the work we've done will be sustained."
 

To request a copy of the collected stories, please contact Dawn Lee Minter.

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