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Chartered by the State of Texas in 1950, the foundation, was for many decades, the only Dallas
public school scholarship fund.
The scholarship was created with money donated by a former student who returned to Adamson to teach drama, Elizabeth Baker. It was augmented by gifts
from former students and PTA members, including a $35,000 bequest by 1923 graduate Virginia Shaw and a $55,000 gift left to the school upon Miss Baker's death. Longtime principal Howard Allen and his
wife, Eva, included the foundation in their wills. These and other more recent contributions have increased the endowment to about $900,000. All monies are invested, with only the annual interest used
for scholarships.
Almost 1,000 graduating seniors have received scholarships. Until four years ago, scholarships were one-year awards. Today, the one-year prizes are supplemented by
several four-year scholarships. One of its first four-year scholarship recipients, Sonia Cabrales, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1998.
Scholarships are
awarded to Adamson graduating seniors based on academic achievement and economic need. Qualified applicants, limited to Adamson students, are interviewed individually by the foundation's awards committee
in early spring, and winners are announced at the school's annual awards assembly. Recipients, once granted the scholarship, must maintain a 2.5 grade point average and earn at least 12 hours of college
credit per semester to retain future allotments of the scholarship, whether for one, two or four years.
The Adamson Scholarship Foundation's board of directors are all graduates of
the high school (with one exception being the school's former longtime counselor, Mary Helen Swaner), spanning many generations. The board, which serves without remuneration, meets three times a year.
Gifts to the foundation are tax-deductible. Memorial gifts to honor a teacher, relative or former graduate can be arranged.
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