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also found itself in danger of collapsing because of a lack of
money.
“At this critical juncture, Mr. Clinton held a meeting at
his home. Among those present was Florence Rose, who
had accepted an invitation to come to Los Angeles and
observe the work of the infant organization. Here Mr.
Clinton announced that he would no longer be able to
devote as much time to the promotion of MPF as he had in
the past and asked if anyone present would take over the
direction of MFM. When no one else responded, Miss Rose
said she would accept the responsibility because she ‘hated
to see and idea die.’
“Mr. Clinton immediately appointed Miss Rose to the
post of Executive Secretary and named Ernest
Chamberlain,... Secretary... Mr. Clinton’s son, Edmond J.
Clinton, was appointed Vice President. Dr. Borsook
accepted the post of Research Director, and A.J. Gock, an
officer of the Bank of America, agreed to serve as
Treasurer” (p. 17-18).
Biographies are then given of Florence Rose and Ernest
Chamberlain. “Florence Rose brought to Meals for Millions
the knowledge and experience of a person who had worked
for nearly twenty-five years for causes espoused by nonprofit
organizations. She had worked in the New York City
office of Margaret Sanger as her personal assistant. “In this
capacity, Miss Rose accompanied her employer on many
trips abroad to promote the idea and teach the techniques of
birth control. Before she left Margaret Sanger in 1940 to
work for Pearl S. Buck, Florence Rose learned to endure the
disappointments that arise out of the promotion of
unpopular causes and developed the capacity to persevere in
the face of seemingly immovable opposition or apathy.” She
believed in demonstration clinics as used by Mrs. Sanger.
“From personal observation it can also be stated that Miss
Rose possesses an extraordinary amount of energy and has,
as reflected in her choice of career, a keen desire to improve
the lot of mankind” (p. 18-19).
Ernest Chamberlain was “a former lawyer, newspaper
reporter, and public relations agent.” Born in Topeka,
Kansas on 18 Aug. 1892, he attended George Washington
University (Washington, DC) where he received a law
degree in 1918. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World
War I. After the war he worked “in the office of the
Governor of Kansas, George Allen, where he became so
fascinated with the socialist doctrines of Mr. Jake Sheppard,
an opponent of Governor Allen and the President of the
‘Peoples’ College,’ that he quit his job to teach at the
Peoples’ College and to organize Consumers’ stores. A year
later, in 1920, Mr. Chamberlain went to Oklahoma City
where he practiced law primarily in the area of civil liberties
and worked for the Oklahoma Leader, a labor-socialist daily
newspaper. Before the end of 1920 he gave up his law
practice to become a full-time reporter for the Oklahoma
Leader,... and other publications printed by the Leader
MEALS FOR MILLIONS, SOY, AND FREEDOM FROM HUNGER 83
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Press.” He “also participated in the formation of the Farmer-
Labor Reconstruction League, which helped to elect Mr.
Jack Walston governor of Oklahoma in 1922 and to
impeach him a year later.”
“In the summer of 1938, Mr. Chamberlain moved with
his wife and two children to Los Angeles where he worked
for the information office of the WPA. Before long,
however, his penchant for causes asserted itself and he
became the press agent for Clifford Clinton’s campaign to
remove ten councilmen from office and reform the
government of the city of Los Angeles. By 1942, Mr.
Chamberlain had resigned from... WPA and was working as
an aide to Mr. Clinton on a full-time basis. Not surprisingly,
given his more than 25 year commitment to helping
underprivileged people, Mr. Chamberlain saw in MPF a
tremendous potential for combatting hunger and quickly
accepted his employer’s suggestion that he become the
Secretary of Meals for Millions. MFM thus acquired a man
talented in publicity techniques, familiar with lobbying in
Washington, D.C., and obviously ready to devote himself to
a non-profit cause (p. 20-21).
The final member of the trio is Dr. Henry Borsook.
“Holder of both a Ph.D. and an M.D., Dr. Borsook joined
the staff of the California Institute of Technology in 1929”
(p. 21).
MFM was a foundation with no endowment, and it was
founded by default. “But the belief in the efficacy of action
shared by the three participants in reform movements...
coupled with Dr. Borsook’s and their desire to alleviate
human suffering gave MFM the unity and strength it needed
to persist in the promotion for twenty years” [1946-1966]
(p. 22-23). Continued. Address: Seattle, Washington.
203. Roberts, Hibbert Rice. 1967. The Meals for Millions
Foundation: a study of a non-governmental organization
(Continued–Document Part III). PhD thesis in Political
Science, University of Washington. 288 leaves. [53 + 100+
footnotes]
• Summary: Continued: Chapter 3. “This chapter, which
discusses the formal rules governing the Meals for Millions
Foundation and the organization, functions, and staff of its
headquarters in Los Angeles, California, sets forth the
framework intended to support a global effort against
starvation.” Begins with an analysis of the two occasions
when the by-laws of the Foundation were revised, and the
events which led to these revisions–in 1955 and 1962. The
first revision in 1955 (of the original 1946 by-laws)
represented an attempt by the board to meet charges “that
the Foundation’s policy-making procedures placed too
much control in the hands of a few individuals; the second
in 1962 grew out of similar complaints by individuals more
intimately involved in the affairs of MFM.” There was a
growing conviction “that it would be advantageous to
involve MFM’s directors more closely in the affairs of their