The Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund was a grantmaking organization based in Sunnyside, New York. Founded in 1946, the fund started out as a general charitable foundation, but was moving towards backing left-of-center advocacy causes by the early 2000s. ¹ The fund’s website was last active around 2012, showing only basic information. ² By 2022, the fund was reporting minimal grantmaking activity. ³

Family Background

Lucius Eastman was the president of the Hills Brothers Company, a fruit importer, between 1906 and 1938. He attended Amherst College and later received a law degree from Boston University. Throughout his career, he was affiliated with the International Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association of New York. He also spent five years as a member of the economics commission of the League of Nations. In addition, he ran a local philanthropy in Scarsdale, New York, where he died in 1943. He was survived by, among others, his wife Eva and his son, who was the vice president of Hills Brothers. ⁴

Select Grantees

In 2011, the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund provided support to the Muslim Community Network, a New York City-based advocacy group which works to direct public opinion of Islam while also promoting left-of-center policies on freedom of expression and immigration. ⁵

The fund has provided support to many media, especially film, projects. In 2019, this included Being Bebe, a documentary about an immigrant from Cameroon to the United States who becomes a drag performer. ^{6 7} In 2021, the fund allocated a grant for Our Daughters, a documentary about white children being raised by South Asian parents. ^{8 9} A movie about those who refused to serve in the Vietnam War was released in 2020; The Boys Who Said NO! grossed $800,000. ^{10 11}

The group helped fund book detailing Hurricane Katrina called Angels in the Mud, which released in 2007. ¹²

Leadership

Lucius Eastman’s son, Lucius Eastman IV, was chair of the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund from 1961 to 1988. He was a venture capitalist and died in 1991. ¹³

John Eastman and Terrell Wilson are listed as the Fund’s current leadership. ¹⁴ They are two of the sons of Lucius Eastman V, according to his obituary. ¹⁵

1. “Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund.” Community Food Funders. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://communityfoodfunders.org/foodfunder/lucius-and-eva-eastman-fund/
2. “Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund.” Archived April 1, 2012. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20120401183031/http://www.leefund.org/
3. “Lucius & Eva Eastman Fund Inc.” ProPublica. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131958483
4. “Lucius R. Eastman Dies At His Home.” Scarsdale Inquirer. March 19, 1943. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=scarsdaleinquire19430319.2.58&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-
5. “About Muslim Community Network.” Muslim Community Network. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://mcnny.org/who-we-are/
6. “Grants!!!!” Being Bebe. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://beingbebemovie.com/grants/
7. Being Bebe. Accessed October 1, 2023.

   https://beingbebemovie.com/

8. Our Daughters. “We are very fortunate to…” Facebook. July 30, 2021. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/OurDaughtersDoc/videos/144033991195140/
9. Our Daughters. Facebook. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/OurDaughtersDoc
10. ^[1] “The Boy Who Said No,” Internet Movie Database, 2020. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13604934/
11. “Our Funders,” The Boys Who Said No. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.boyswhosaidno.com/funders
12. Press Announcement, Stood for the Storm. Accessed October 2, 2023. http://stoodforthestorm.com/phone/pressannouncement.html
13. Lucius R. Eastman 4^th;  https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/15/obituaries/lucius-r-eastman-4th-philanthropist-78.html
14. “Lucius & Eva Eastman Fund Inc. 2022 IRS 990 Filing” ProPublica. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131958483/202341239349100344/full
15. Lucius R. Eastman, ’58, Amherst College. November 2011. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/in_memory/1958/luciuseastman/node/360882