Grandom Institution (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Hartt Grandom (1778-1840), the son of Philadelphia Quaker parents, provided in his will for his considerable estate to be used for a number of charitable purposes, primarily the establishment of a permanent fund “to alleviate the most prudent of the poor (but not the intemperate) in procuring fuel, clothing and other necessaries, which such persons want in winter...” A second provision was made for a society “composed of discreet members” who would dispense financial aid to young men needing assistance in getting started in trade, “and whose parents are unable or unwilling to aid them.” In accordance with this bequest, The Grandom Institution was chartered in 1841 and organized in 1846. The incorporators and the managers were largely members of the Society of Friends.

Additions to the funds of the Institution have been made from time to time by bequest.

In 1926 the Fuel Savings Society of the City and Liberties of Philadelphia, established in 1821 for distribution of fuel to the poor, became affiliated with The Grandom Institution when the two organizations had the same managers. A further consolidation was effected in 1956 when the Philadelphia Soup House, founded in 1814 as The Society for Supplying the Poor with Soup, remained a separate corporate entity, but its managers had dual membership, also serving as managers of The Grandom Institution.

In 1937 the Fuel Savings Society received a bequest which from that time on was treated separately as The William Keinath Coal Endowment. In 1971 the distribution of fuel and food was turned over to the Philadelphia Board of City Trusts.