Free Republic

How John Olin and William Simon helped create the conservative counterintelligentsia. Recent reports of gloominess besetting conservatives may be exaggerated, but there is one real reason for them to shed a tear: Last month, the trustees of the John M. Olin Foundation met to approve its final grants. After a half-century of operation, the foundation is closing up shop, following the wishes of its founder, who deliberately limited the organization's lifespan to prevent its one day falling into the hands of directors who were foes of his ideas. (Mr. Olin took comfort in the wisdom of this policy after Henry...

Sometime this fall, the board of the John M. Olin Foundation will meet one last time and approve a final round of grants. By the end of the year, the foundation will release its staff and close its office. There will be a few checks to write in 2006, and perhaps several more as late as 2007 or even 2008. But for all practical purposes, the foundation will shut down — and one of the conservative movement’s most important institutions will cease to exist.Tonight, in New York City, the Philanthropy Roundtable will host an event honoring the achievements of the...