{{Short description|American business person and philanthropist (1905–2007)}} {{Infobox person |name = Hallie Ford |image = Hallie Ford.jpg |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|3|17}} |birth_place = Red Fork, Oklahoma, U.S. |death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|6|4|1905|3|17}} |death_place = Monmouth, Oregon, U.S. |education = East Central University |employer = Roseburg Forest Products |boards = |occupation = Philanthropist |spouse = Kenneth W. Ford }} '''Hallie Brown Ford''' (March 17, 1905 – June 4, 2007) was an American business person and philanthropist. A native of Oklahoma, she acquired her wealth in Oregon through the timber industry. As a philanthropist she made donations to many institutions in Oklahoma and Oregon to support education and the arts. Shortly before her death in 2007, she made a donation of $15 million to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, the largest single donation to any cultural group in Oregon history.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art and several other institutions at Willamette University and Oregon State University in Oregon are named in her honor, as are several items at her alma mater East Central University in Oklahoma.
==Early life== Hallie Brown was born in Red Fork, Oklahoma, on March 17, 1905.<ref name=legacy>Much, Justin. Philanthropist gave to variety of causes. ''Statesman Journal'', June 13, 2007.</ref> At the time it was Indian Territory, with Oklahoma becoming a state in 1907.<ref name=ecu>East Central University benefactor Hallie Brown Ford dies in Oregon. US States News, June 11, 2007.</ref> She attended Beggs High School where she was valedictorian.<ref name=ecu/> She worked her way through college at East Central State Normal School (now East Central University) in the town of Ada.<ref name=legacy/> There she earned a teaching certificate and a bachelor's degree in 1930.<ref name=ecu/> After college she began teaching in Oklahoma.<ref name=ecu/>
==Oregon== She moved to Lebanon, Oregon, with her parents and began teaching in that area during the Great Depression.<ref name=legacy/><ref name=ecu/> She met Kenneth W. Ford there, and the two married in 1935.<ref name=ecu/> After their marriage they moved to the Roseburg, Oregon, area where they started and ran the Roseburg Lumber Company (now Roseburg Forest Products Company).<ref name=legacy/> They had a daughter, Carmen, and a son, Allyn.<ref name=ecu/> In 1957, with her husband, she helped found the charitable organization that became the '''Ford Family Foundation'''.<ref name=ecu/> In 1959, she worked with artist Harry Widman on a 200-plus piece art exhibit for Oregon's Centennial in Roseburg.<ref>Cowan, Ron. Layers of knowledge. ''Statesman Journal'', August 20, 2006.</ref> In Roseburg she was a civic leader, and was given the First Citizens Award in 1967 by the local chamber of commerce.<ref name=ecu/>
==Later years and philanthropy== Hallie moved to Salem, Oregon, in 1972. In 1975, she became a member of the board of trustees at Willamette University in Salem.<ref name=legacy/> In 1992 her alma mater, East Central University, named her as a distinguished alumni.<ref name=ecu/> The Fords' charity created the Ford Scholars Program scholarships for Oregon students in 1993.<ref name=fff>Walker, Charles L. [http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/winter_98/article8.html Investing in People.] ''NW Education'', Winter 1998. Retrieved December 15, 2007.</ref> She then started the Ford Opportunity Scholarship Program in 1995 for single parents.<ref name=fff/><ref>School briefs Gresham outdoor school fund-raiser: Gresham-Barlow. ''The Oregonian'', June 27, 2002.</ref> Ford became a lifetime member of the board of trustees at Willamette in 1996, and received the Governor of Oregon's Arts Award for Arts Patronage.<ref name=legacy/> That year her charitable foundation became the Ford Family Foundation.<ref>[http://www.tfff.org/main/AboutUs/tabid/53/Default.aspx About Us.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211032857/http://www.tfff.org/main/AboutUs/tabid/53/Default.aspx |date=2007-12-11 }} The Ford Family Foundation. Retrieved December 15, 2007.</ref> Her husband Kenneth died on February 8, 1997.<ref>[http://www.rfpco.com/pdfs/Ford_wood.pdf Special Edition: Roseburg Woodsman.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724222201/http://www.rfpco.com/pdfs/Ford_wood.pdf |date=2008-07-24 }} Roseburg Forest Products. Retrieved on December 15, 2007.</ref> In 2002, she moved to an assisted living facility in Monmouth, Oregon.<ref name=legacy/>
In 2006, Ford donated an additional $8 million to Willamette University, the largest single donation in that school's history.<ref name=fordhall>Kim, Eunice. Willamette University plans academic building on State St. ''Statesman Journal'', November 23, 2007.</ref> In May 2007, Hallie Ford donated $15 million to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, the largest donation in that school's history.<ref name=pnca>Libby, Brian. PNCA Receives $15 Million Gift. ''Portland Architecture'', May 22, 2007.</ref> The donation would primarily be used for a visiting artists program.<ref name=pnca/> This donation to the college was the largest donation to any cultural group in Oregon's history.<ref name=osu/><ref>Deaths elsewhere. ''The Houston Chronicle'', June 9, 2007.</ref> Also that month she was given the Distinguished Philanthropist Award by East Central University.<ref name=ecu/>
Given before her death, but announced after her death was an $8 million donation to Oregon State University, the alma mater of her daughter Carmen Ford Phillips.<ref name=osu>Wood, Shelby. OSU gets $8 million to help state families. ''The Oregonian'', June 15, 2007.</ref><ref>Gifts and Bequests. ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'', June 29, 2007. Gazette; Pg. 45 Vol. 53 No. 43.</ref> The gift went toward the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families as part of the school's College of Health and Human Sciences.<ref name=osu/><ref>Museum Gets $12-Million; Other New Donations. ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', June 28, 2007. GIVING; Pg. 17 Vol. 19 No. 18.</ref>
==Death and legacy== Hallie Ford died on June 4, 2007, in Monmouth, Oregon, at the age of 102 after a brief illness.<ref name=legacy/> Ford Hall and the Hallie Ford Museum at Willamette University are named in her honor,<ref name=fordhall/> as is the school's English and literature endowed professorship.<ref name=legacy/> At East Central University the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center and the Hallie Brown Ford Award for Philanthropy honor her legacy at the school where she donated approximately $7 million over the years.<ref name=ecu/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/06/15/news/top_story/3aaa01_donation.txt Corvallis Gazette Times coverage of OSU donation]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *[http://www.newsreview.info/article/20070607/OBITS/70607049 Obituary of Hallie Ford] *[http://www.osualum.com/s/359/file_lib/1/17/200708Stater_giving_back_633240681003917724.pdf Hallie Ford's legacy for Oregon's children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228063914/http://www.osualum.com/s/359/file_lib/1/17/200708Stater_giving_back_633240681003917724.pdf |date=2010-12-28 }} - ''Oregon Stater'' *{{Oregon Encyclopedia|hallie_brown_ford|Hallie Brown Ford (1905–2007)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Hallie}} Category:1905 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:East Central University alumni Category:Philanthropists from Oregon Category:Willamette University people Category:People from Roseburg, Oregon Category:American women centenarians Category:Pacific Northwest College of Art Category:People from Monmouth, Oregon Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:Businesspeople from Salem, Oregon