S.S. Kresge Co. opens its first Kmart-branded store in San Fernando, California in January. In March, the first ground-up Kmart store – and the one most recognized as “the first” — opens in Garden City, Mich.

Trustees for the first time indicate defined funding priorities: Colleges and universities, hospitals and medical research, institutions for religious training and leadership, organizations and institutions serving youth and the aging, and cultural and social welfare programs.

For the first time, conservation is identified as a Kresge field of interest. Most early grants are awarded to projects focused on purchasing conservation lands or education about the natural environment. This year, Kresge pays out $6.7 million in grants and has an endowment of $147.9 million.

The foundation passes the $75 million mark in all-time giving. That year, foundation offices move from the retail company’s Second Avenue headquarters to a new building at 211 Fort Street West in Detroit’s financial district.

Sebastian Kresge resigns from his roles as chairman of the S. S. Kresge Company and trustee of The Kresge Foundation, and dies on October 18 at the age of 99. Stanley Kresge becomes Chairman of both the S. S. Kresge Company and the Kresge Board of Trustees.

The foundation celebrates its 40th anniversary. Since inception, it has paid out more than $63 million in grants. Of those, about 50% went to colleges or universities; 25% contributed to scientific research, hospitals & health related projects; and the final 25% benefited religious institutions, the care of youth or the aging, and other social services.

Protests against the Vietnam War and urban unrest rattle the nation and have a devastating impact on the city of Detroit. In William (Bill) Baldwin’s “President’s Report,” he acknowledges frustration with the magnitude of problems in both the country and the world. Baldwin then reconfirms the foundation’s duty to fulfill a sense of hope through … Continue reading 1967