Who We Are

Since its inception in 1929, the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, Inc. (SESF) has championed and supported nonprofit organizations dedicated to the holistic development of underserved children and youth. Solon E. Summerfield believed that a college degree was a crucial driver of social and economic mobility. This conclusion, adapted to address the complex challenges of our time and the future of work, continues to have urgent relevance today.

HISTORY

Solon E. Summerfield conceived of the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, Inc., as a memorial to his father, Marcus Summerfield, a University of Kansas (KU) law professor and scholar.

Born in 1877 in Lawrence, Kansas, Solon E. Summerfield earned both his bachelor's degree (1899) and Bachelor of Law degree (1901) from KU. Mr. Summerfield went on to serve as a Board Trustee of The Kansas University Endowment Association. In 1941, he received KU's Distinguished Service Citation for service to humanity.

After law school, Mr. Summerfield moved to New York City. He borrowed money from his uncle Elias and purchased the Bernstein Ribbon Company and Factory. One year into running the business, Mr. Summerfield confronted difficulties with the manufacturing of and waning market for high-grade ribbons. He consequently staked his future on a different product: silk stockings. In 1911, with another loan from his uncle, Solon E. Summerfield established the Gotham Silk Hosiery Company. Motivated by Mr. Summerfield’s realization that the chief weakness of stockings lay in their vulnerability to garter runs, the company invented a technology that prevented garter runs from going the length of the stocking. Gold-dyed thread at the lockstitch prompted the name for the newly conceived “Gotham Gold Stripe” stockings. By 1925, Gotham had become a publicly owned company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1929, Gotham was the nation's leading manufacturer of hosiery. As sales grew, Mr. Summerfield's reputation and the legacy of his Foundation were assured.

In June 1929, Mr. Summerfield sent The Kansas University Endowment Association a proposal that led to the establishment of the Summerfield Scholars. Through that program, Mr. Summerfield committed himself and ultimately his estate to maintaining a series of merit-based University of Kansas scholarships that would ”enable deserving boys to go through the full four-year course at the University.” That same year, sparked by Mr. Summerfield's desire to establish merit scholarships, The Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, Inc. was formed.

SESF is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion through our grantmaking and operations. SESF looks to research, as well as to the expertise and human-centered efforts of our grantees in their communities of practice, to continuously improve our practices.