Guide to the Damavand College Foundation Records

Damavand College Foundation was formed in Washington, D.C., and its purpose was to be a United States-holding corporation for Damavand College (a private women's college in Tehran, Iran and the successor entity of the Iran Bethel School/College). Damavand College's board of trustees had been established in February 1969. In an October 15, 1970 letter to Stephen Leonard (who would become treasurer-secretary of the Foundation), Damavand College president Frances Mecca Gray stated that "we are establishing this Foundation in the States for several necessary purposes ... the most important of these is to have an American corporation through which we can provide social security benefits to our American staff ... We are also hopeful that we can secure income tax deductibility for gifts received in the States." Gray also explained that "We are no longer under the Presbyterian mission but we were given a challenge gift by COEMAR [Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations] of $300,000 to be matched from funds raised here and elsewhere."¹ The Foundation was established soon after this communication in November 1970. Foundation members actively sought funding opportunities, facilitated endowment funds and disbursed gifts and investments, did development work, and recruited and hired employees/staff for the College. The Foundation also received and managed ASHA/USAID (American Schools and Hospitals Abroad, United States Agency for International Development) grants for the College.

Foundation secretaries included: Robert C. Lodwick, who was also secretary for education of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.'s (UPCUSA) COEMAR and Program Agency; Esther L. Hawkins; and Haydn O. White, who was also associate for global education of the UPCUSA's Program Agency. Additionally, lawyer Stephen Leonard served as both secretary and treasurer of the Foundation. After the Iranian Revolution and the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the College was nationalized. The Foundation oversaw repatriation costs of the College's American teachers. The Foundation continued to operate throughout the 1980s, mainly as an account holder for dedicated funds. At the annual meeting of 1988, the board of directors voted to dissolve the Foundation.

Bibliograph/Works Cited

1. Damavand College Foundation Records, RG 561, Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS). Box 1, Folder 1. October 15, 1970 letter from Frances M. Gray to Stephen Leonard.