The Haymarket People's Fund is a non-profit foundation created in 1974 to raise funds and to "give grants to grassroots groups organizing throughout New England fighting violence, poverty, and injustice [and] aiming to empower oppressed communities." (See Annual Report, 1988-89, p. 2 in Series II, Publications). Named after the famous Haymarket Square Affair of 1886 in Chicago, the Haymarket People's Fund is a self-described "activist-controlled foundation committed to radical social change. " It maintains that through its process of fundraising and grantmaking, it is "building a unique partnership between activists and donors, all working for progressive, economic, social, and political change." (Annual Report, 1988-89, p. 2)
The Haymarket People's Fund raises its funds by soliciting donations throughout New England and the Northeast. Since 1977, it has also had an endowment which now totals about $700,000. In its first fifteen years of existence, the Fund has distributed more than $3,000,000 in grants through its nine regional boards to activist-groups throughout New England. Individual grants are small, usually ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. In 1988-89 for example, the largest single grant was for $4,000 and the smallest $200.
Open for research.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Records of the Haymarket People's Fund, 1973-1990, Mss. Gr. 83, University of Rhode Island Library.
The records concern grants made by the Haymarket People's Fund to activist organizations in Rhode Island only. Though the Fund awards grants to organizations throughout New England, the records relating to those non-Rhode Island grants are not included in this donation of materials. Nor are any of the Haymarket People's Fund's administrative records represented here.
The records are organized into two series: Series I, Grant Case Files and Series II, Publications.
Series one, Grant Case Files, 1973-1986, consists of records relating to grants awarded by the Haymarket People's Fund to activist organizations in Rhode Island. Included are correspondence, grant applications, grant agreement forms, grant history forms, progress reports, final reports, newsletters, and brochures.
Series two, Publications, 1989-1990, contains a sample of the Haymarket People's Fund's publications. Included are brochures, newsletters, annual reports, and promotional literature.
The records are organized into two series:
The records of the Haymarket People's Fund were donated to the Special Collections Department of the University Library in July, 1990.
No further materials are expected for this collection.
This series consists of records relating to grants awarded by the Haymarket People's Fund to activist groups in Rhode Island. The groups receiving grants include an alternative newspaper, several women's resource groups, a feminist theatre group, a bookstore, a food cooperative, several labor based groups, community organizing groups, and a shelter for the homeless.
The quantity of records varies with each organization represented, but usually includes correspondence, a grant application, a grant agreement form, a grant history form, progress and final reports on the use of the funds, and occasionally brochures and/or newsletters of the group requesting funds. The grant application form provides some information about the history and objectives of the organization requesting financial assistance, as well as some budget information about the group.
The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the organization receiving the grant and chronologically by date within folders.
This series contains a sample of the publications of the Haymarket People's Fund. Included are the Annual Report for 1988-89, brochures, newsletters, and a promotional publication entitled, "Who is Haymarket People's Fund?".
The publications are arranged alphabetically by title or type of publication.