INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF CHICAGO 3600 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 773.782.2800 fax 773.782.5042 info@infantwelfare.org
a healthy child
The Armour Heritage League has been established by the Board of Directors to recognize and honor those people who have provided for the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago through their estate plans. Estate gifts are generally designated for an investment fund to benefit Infant Welfare in perpetuity.
Continued growth of the investment fund is a key element in the fulfillment of Infant Welfare’s mission. The Armour Heritage League members truly recognize the future needs of the organization. Estate gifts not only provide for Infant Welfare financially but also assist in developing and meeting ong range plans. Further annual support of Infant Welfare remains crucial for general operating support. Generous donors may find that they can make a very significant contribution through the use of one of several techniques available for estate planning. Infant Welfare’s future and its leadership in providing affordable medical, dental, mental health and child development services to the underserved will depend on emerging partnerships between the organization and its supporters to grow its investment fund.
Membership in the Armour Heritage League is open to all who have made some form of estate or deferred gift commitment of any amount. Those who enroll prior to our Centennial year, 2011, will be designated charter members.
All members of the Armour Heritage League will receive a specially designed membership certificate and recognition in the annual Honor Roll of Donors. Members will be invited to attend the annual meeting of the Armour Heritage League and special events at IWS.
The Armour Heritage League is named for the Armour family of Chicago. The family patriarch. Philip Danforth Armour, founded the Armour Meat-Packing Company in 1850 along with his two brothers, and was himself a very strong promoter of growth, culture, and philanthropy in the burgeoning Midwestern metropolis.
Mr. Armour’s descendants followed his example of community service and involvement in civic, cultural, and social welfare organizations. Two of them, Philip D. Armour and Vernon Armour, played very significant roles in the history and development of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.
Philip D. Armour, the grandson of the founding brother of the meat-packing company, was named President of the Board of Directors of the Infant Welfare Society in 1929. He succeeded Lucius Teeter, one of the founders of the Society, who had been President from 1911 until 1928. Philip Armour served as president until 1948, the Society’s longest serving President. His leadership spanned the Depression and World War II, both difficult periods in Infant Welfare’s history.
Vernon Armour, Phillip’s nephew joined the Board of Directors in 1958 and served as President from 1971-1976, the early years of the Halsted Street clinic. Vernon continues as an Honorary Board member to the present. A brother-in-law of Vernon, Gerald Hollins, served on the IWS Board from 1957 - 1963.
Vernon’s daughter, Cynthia, followed her father onto the Board of Directors in 1990 and was Board Treasurer from 1992-1994.
Taken together, the Armour family has had Board representation for 91 of the 99 year history of Infant Welfare. It is truly an honor to have their name attached to the group that will provide for the long-term future of Infant Welfare.
THE ARMOUR HERITAGE LEAGUE
THE LEGACY OF THE ARMOUR FAMILY