HISTORY OF THE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle, originally named the Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund (CCSF), was founded in 1966 by four community members – Carlisle resident Charles Evans and Concord residents and school committee members Anna Manion, Bruce Old, and Elizabeth Spinney. They were among the group of citizens from both towns who worked together to establish the Regional School District and to oversee the construction of the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School that opened in September 1960. Following the completion of this project, they maintained the friendship they had developed while working together and remained committed to education in general.

Aware of the escalating costs associated with post-secondary educational programs following high school graduation, they wanted to make it possible for all students to be able to pursue studies at a university, college, technical, or vocational school as appropriate to the individual. They decided to call together a group of fellow citizens whose wisdom and advice they valued in order to learn from them what they thought about the idea of creating a scholarship fund that would provide assistance based on financial need. Encouraged by the positive response they received, the four former School Committee members had drawn up a permanent charitable trust to be known as the Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund. On June 25, 1966, Charles Evans, Anna Manion, Bruce Old and Eleanor Spinney signed the trust document and became the Fund’s first Trustees. $11,000 was raised to begin the Fund with the understanding that part of the money was to be invested and part to be distributed.

In 1968 the first significant capital contribution ($25,000) was raised at an arts festival chaired by Charles K. Yeremian, Director of Music for the Concord Public Schools and the Concord-Carlisle School District.  In 1993, the Trustees voted to establish the Charles K. Yeremian Memorial Scholarship Fund in recognition of his enthusiastic and dedicated service to the schools and his support of the Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund.

In 1971, the first large memorial gift of $10,000 was donated by Anna Manion and her husband Charles in memory of their son who had been killed in a tragic automobile accident while a student at the University of Maine. The Charles E. Manion, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund became the first named scholarship awarded annually by the Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund.

As The Scholarship Fund has grown and matured over the years, the trust document upon which it is based evolved as well. To keep pace with changing needs and current best practice the original 1966 document was amended in 1991, 2007, and 2013. In 2016, the Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund was renamed The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle. 

Today, The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle is the largest community-based non-profit organization that helps financially challenged students connected to Concord and Carlisle pursue post-secondary educations. Our all-volunteer Board of Trustees has grown in number from four in 1966 to 21 today resulting in a total of 73 community members who have served to date. Among the scholarships administered by The Scholarship Fund there are currently 64 named funds honoring members of the Concord and Carlisle community. Since our founding in 1966 more than 3 million dollars in scholarships have been awarded to more than 1400 students. For the 2018-2019 school year close to $280,000 was awarded to a total of 28 graduating high school seniors and 40 in-college students.

Photo by:  Wm. W. Anderson.  Courtesy of Anderson Archives