Arie and Ida Crown Memorial is one of the private family foundations of the billionaire Crown family, who made their money in steel manufacturing and defense contracting. ^{1 2} The Memorial supports numerous organizations in the Chicago area and Jewish groups both in the United States and Israel. In 2009, the Crown Family Philanthropies was spun off from the Memorial with a greater focus on support for Jewish organizations.

Background

Arie and Ida Crown, originally known as Arie and Ida Krinsky, were Lithuanian-Jewish workers who immigrated to Chicago to escape Nazi Germany. Arie changed the family name to Crown after immigrating. One of their seven children was Henry Crown, who, despite dropping out of school in eighth grade, became a steel magnate through the Material Services Corporation, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. At his death in 1990, Henry was a billionaire. ^{3 4}

The Crown family continues to operate Henry Crown and Company as a family firm that holds a 10 percent ownership stake in General Dynamics and a diversified portfolio including real estate and ski resorts. The Crown family has an estimated net worth of $14.7 billion, making it the 30th wealthiest family in the United States as of March 2024. ⁵

In June 2023, the chief executive officer of Henry Crown and Company, James Crown, died in a motor racing accident. James was a former member of President Barack Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board. President Joe Biden wrote a note to the Crown family calling James, “a good man, a dear friend, and a great American.” ⁶

In the early 1960s, Henry Crown founded the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial to honor his parents and continue his philanthropic work. Crown claimed that by the time he was 79 years old, he had given away “nine-figures” worth of money, mostly to universities, including Northwestern, Stanford, and Brandeis. ⁷

In 2009, the Crown Family Philanthropies (officially called the Crown Family Foundation ⁸) was spun off from the Memorial to expand the philanthropic goals of the entire Crown family. The Philanthropies are based on tikkun olam, a Jewish philanthropic tradition that translates to “repair the world.” The Memorial has continued to operate in parallel to the Philanthropies. ⁹

Members of the Crown family continue to manage the Memorial. In 2022, the Memorial was chaired by Barbara Manilow (formerly Barbara Crown), who is also the founder and president of the Covenant Foundation, another Jewish charity. ^{10 11 12} Manilow is a significant donor to the Democratic Party, including former President Obama and the Democratic National Committee. ¹³

Grantmaking

In 2022, the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial made contributions to several left-of-center organizations including the New Venture Fund, the Windward Fund, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Planned Parenthood of Illinois, the Sierra Club, the United States Energy Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Aspen Institute, and Chalkbeat. ¹⁴

The Memorial also made donations to numerous Jewish groups, including American Friends of the Israel Museum, the American Israel Education Foundation, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Anti-Defamation League, and Bend the Arc. ¹⁵ The Memorial has supported Israeli humanitarian efforts at short notice; in 2006, the Memorial gave $10 million to the Israel Emergency Campaign during the war against Hezbollah in northern Israel. ¹⁶

1. “Henry Crown, Industrialist, Dies; Billionaire, 94, Rose From Poverty By JOAN COOK.” The New York Times. August 16, 1990. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/obituaries/henry-crown-industrialist-dies-billionaire-94-rose-from-poverty-by-joan-cook.html.
2. “Crown family.” Forbes. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/profile/crown/?sh=1838cc006044.
3. “Henry Crown, Industrialist, Dies; Billionaire, 94, Rose From Poverty By JOAN COOK.” The New York Times. August 16, 1990. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/obituaries/henry-crown-industrialist-dies-billionaire-94-rose-from-poverty-by-joan-cook.html.
4. “Crown family.” Forbes. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/profile/crown/?sh=1838cc006044.
5. “Crown family.” Forbes. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/profile/crown/?sh=1838cc006044.
6. Mena, Bryan. “Billionaire James Crown killed in race car crash.” CNN Business. June 26, 2023. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/business/james-crown-obit/index.html.
7. “About.” Crown Family Philanthropies.” Crown Family Philanthropies. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://crownfamilyphilanthropies.org/about/.
8. “Crown Family Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363330462.
9. “About.” Crown Family Philanthropies.” Crown Family Philanthropies. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://crownfamilyphilanthropies.org/about/.
10. “Arie and Ida Crown Memorial Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366076088/202303179349103040/full.
11. Kustanowitz, Esther D. “Forging connections drives Covenant’s new exec.” eJewishPhilanthropy. January 26, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/forging-connections-drives-covenants-new-exec/.
12. “The Covenant Foundation Announces Appointment of New Board Chair.” The Covenant Writer. December 15, 2016. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://covenantfn.org/news/the-covenant-foundation-announces-appointment-of-new-board-chair/.
13. “Barbara Manilow.” Little Sis. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://littlesis.org/person/77993-Barbara_Manilow.
14. “Arie and Ida Crown Memorial Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366076088/202303179349103040/full.
15. “Arie and Ida Crown Memorial Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366076088/202303179349103040/full.
16. Pomerance, Rachel. “US Jews open their wallets for Israel.” The Jerusalem Post. August 17, 2006. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/us-jews-open-their-wallets-for-israel.