MISSION
The activities of the Quinn Foundation are in two areas:
- Funding the final year of the completion of the Ph.D. in history for a chosen few scholars through participating university history departments.
- Funding medical operations in underdeveloped countries with generous volunteer assistance from U.S. doctors and nurses focusing on women’s health.
HISTORY
The Quinn Foundation established the Quinn Fellowships in 1985. The incentive for the Foundation’s programs has come mainly from the late Mrs. Doris G. Quinn’s (1917-1998) interest in history. As she worked on her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. at NYU in her 60’s, she became aware that many of her fellow students worked several part-time jobs to pay for school and living expenses in order to complete their graduate degrees.Through her generosity, Mrs. Quinn established the Quinn Fellowship Program to help history graduate students complete their Ph.D. degrees.
Because of her interest in history and being of Dutch decent, Mrs. Quinn had a life-long interest in the translation of Dutch Council Minutes (1600s) from Dutch to English. She supported the translation project of 26 volumes through the New Netherland Institute for many years. The Foundation has continued support for completion by Charles T. Gehring (Book References: Correspondence 1647-1653; Explorers Fortunes & Love Letters).
Mrs. Quinn’s health was compromised by cancer. She valued the exceptional skills of U.S. medical specialties that could be made available to underdeveloped countries. Doris and the trustees created an ancillary program with International Organization for Women’s Development (IOWD), to help fund missions for fistula repair, currently in Rwanda, Africa.