Two sisters, the late Hester McEldowney Smith and late Annabel McEldowney Matthews, created the fund in memory of their parents. Henry died in March of 1935. Annabel, better known as "Belle," passed away October 27, 1957 at the age of 89.
Henry was a prominent banker, industrialist and a close associate of Andrew W. Mellon. As the story goes, Andrew Mellon selected him to run the Union Trust Company over Henry Clay Frick's objections. Henry went on to serve as President of the Union Trust Company of Pittsburgh, a forerunner of Mellon Bank, and was a director of other district banking and industrial firms as well. According to the March 1934 issue of Time Magazine, Henry was at one time the highest paid of any U.S. banker.
Belle was a life member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a regent of the Pittsburgh chapter from 1930 to 1932. She started the John Hart chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in Pittsburgh and was past president of the Twentieth Century Club. She also was a member of the Colonial Dames and the Asbury Methodist Church.
The $7 million fund was the largest gift ever received in The Pittsburgh Foundation's history as of 1982.
Annabel Matthews died in an airliner crash near Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1956. Hester E. Smith died on Nov. 4, 1979.
Type of Fund
- Unrestricted