Our Mission
In 1819 the Rev. Dr. John Scudder and his wife, Harriet, left Boston for India as the first medical missionaries sent out from America. “Pioneer John’s” seven sons all returned to India with their wives and founded hospitals and schools. Forty Scudders gave over 1,000 years of missionary service in India. The Scudder Association Foundation was founded as the Scudder Memorial Association in 1911 to raise funds to build a Scudder hospital in Ranipet, South India. A year later a separate organization, The Scudder Association of America, was formed to foster Scudder kinship. In 1938 the two organizations combined to form The Scudder Association, a non-profit organization.
The Scudder Association of America was organized and incorporated in New Jersey in 1911 “to erect, equip, maintain and extend a hospital or hospitals in India, to honor and perpetuate the missionary work begun in 1819 by Rev. John Scudder, M.D.” His descendants founded two hospitals and two high schools in south India which are still supported by the Scudder Association Foundation over 110 years later.
In 1912 The Scudder Association of America, was formed by the descendants of Thomas and John Scudder who immigrated from Kent, England in the 1630s to Massachusetts “in the belief that an Association founded on a bond of kinship would prove an inspiration to generation after generation of American Scudders and their descendants wherever living the world over.” In 1938 the two organizations were dissolved and incorporated as one organization: The Scudder Association, Inc.
Renamed in 2018, The Scudder Association Foundation, Inc. continues the original missions of supporting the medical and educational institutions founded in India by Scudders, providing Scudder Scholarships to institutions of higher learning in the United States and India and promoting kinship among Scudders worldwide.
Become A Member
Join Today ~ All Are Welcome
Become a member or renew your membership to the Scudder Foundation. Become
a Regular or an Associate Member:
- Regular Member: Descendant of Thomas, John or Elizabeth Scudder who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630s or the adopted child of a Regular Member.
- Associate Member: Any individual who supports the purposes of SAF but is not a descendent of Thomas, John or Elizabeth or the adopted child of a regular member.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN!
Join the Scudder Association Foundation and meet your new extended family. Welcome home!
Annual membership
– $35/year – includes:
- Custom membership certificate noting your Scudder Ancestor and date of arrival in America.
- Full access to the members-only library on the Association’s website
- Access to our Family Historian and research resources
- An opportunity to meet other Scudders online and at annual meetings.
Lifetime membership
– Invest $1,000 in your association and receive all annual member benefits and further support the philanthropic goals of the association.
- Members whose philanthropic donations through the Foundation exceed $1,000 in a calendar year, also receive Lifetime Membership.
- Lifetime membership makes a great gift to inspire the younger generation to become involved in continuing the Foundation’s mission.
- Lifetime membership certificates come enclosed in custom frame (as shown)