List of Mellon family foundations

The Mellon family foundations are a group of charitable foundations in the United States associated with the family of Thomas Mellon.

Background

The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential family originally of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., and its vicinity. In addition to their foundation of BNY Mellon, they were also principal investors or majority owners of companies such as Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Koppers, Westinghouse, with major influence in Credit Suisse First Boston, General Motors, H.J. Heinz, Newsweek, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and U.S. Steel. The Mellon family created trolly amusement parks in the late 1800s along their railway lines for public use. Both Kennywood and Idlewild Park remain in existence.

Foundations

The Richard King Mellon Foundation was created by Richard King Mellon in 1947. It primarily works in Pennsylvania to preserve and restore the area's natural environment. In 2001 the foundation donated two tracts of land, totaling 61,633 acres, to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) for the Maurepas Swamp WMA. Between 2001 and 2011 another 12,000 acres were gained through purchases and donations. In 2012 another 29,630 acres (The MC Davis Tract) was acquired from The Conservation Fund. Subsequent acquisitions of the Rathborne, Boyce, and Crusel tracts gave the WMA 122,098 acres. The foundation was reported to have $3.4 billion in net assets as of 2022 and is considered one of the 50 largest foundations in the world.