Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation

Background

The Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation established in 1987 and based in Baltimore, Maryland. ² Its giving is focused primarily on the environment and advancing left-of-center social policy, including initiatives that support voting rights for “individuals involved with the criminal justice system.” ³

The foundation is part of the Blaustein Philanthropic Group, a group of family foundations “united by roots in Jewish tradition and concern for social justice and equality of opportunity.” It includes the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation; the Alvin and Fanny B. Thalheimer Foundation; the Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation; the David and Barbara B. Hirschhorn Foundation; the Dorothy L. and Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. Foundation; and the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation. ^{4  5}

The Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation is a member of the Maryland Philanthropy Network, which is comprised of over 110 grantmaking organizations focused on donating to causes that support “equity and justice” with an emphasis on racial equity. ⁶

Family History

Louis Blaustein immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1883. In 1910, Louis and his son Jacob founded the American Oil Company (Amoco). In 1931, they formed the American Trading and Production Corporation as their businesses expanded. ⁷ Louis and his wife established the Louis and Henrietta Blaustein Foundation in 1939, making grants to organizations that support Jewish tradition and left-of-center social justice issues. It was dissolved in 2001. ⁵ Louis’s son Jacob and his wife Hilda established the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation in 1957, continuing to support social justice and human rights, as well as Jewish life. ⁸

Elizabeth Blaustein Roswell’s parents were Jacob and Hilda. ⁹ She was born in 1930. In 1954, she married Arthur Roswell. She worked as a social worker with Jewish Family Service of Southern Middlesex County and founded ran the Jewish Family Service of Somerset County. She was a board member of Temple Beth El, Hebrew Union College, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Human Rights, and the World Union for Progressive Judaism, which is a “network of the Reform, Liberal, Progressive and Reconstructionist movements.” ^{10  11}

Arthur Roswell holds a doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Yale University and worked in engineering management. ¹²

Grants

According to a report entitled “Barriers to Louisiana Energy Dominance” published by the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, the Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation has donated $853,000 to left-of-center Louisiana climate advocacy groups between 2020 and 2024. The report claimed that out-of-state donors were “working to shut down the state’s foundational energy industry” by funding groups that work to “disrupt the development of oil, natural gas, and related energy infrastructure projects for the express purpose of phasing out the production and use of fossil fuels”  ^{13  14  15} In 2024, the foundation awarded grants to the Descendants Project, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and Rural Roots Louisiana, which are all Louisiana-based environmentalist advocacy groups. ¹⁶

The Roswell Foundation donated to the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and is involved in URJ’s Global Reform Movement, ¹⁷ which is committed to social justice, especially for women, the disabled, the LGBT community, illegal immigrants, and ethnic minorities. ¹⁸

The foundation awarded 59 grants in 2024. Grantees included Americans United For Separation Of Church and State, Civic Influencers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fusion Partnerships, the New Israel Fund, the People For the American Way Foundation, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, the Center for Popular Democracy, the Nature Conservancy, the Partnership Project, and, Vote Voice of the Experienced. ^{19  16}

The foundation awarded grants to several left-of-center criminal justice advocacy groups that oppose mass incarceration and endorse the restoration of voting and other rights to formerly incarcerated individuals, including Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People and Families Movement, Forward Justice, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and the Sentencing Project. ^{20  21}

Leadership

According to its 2024 tax filings, the foundation is governed by 20 trustees and officers. Judith R. Weinstein is the trustee president, and Marjorie B. Roswell, Barbara S. Roswell, and Michael E. Roswell are the trustee vice presidents. ²²