Watchorn Family Foundation Fund

The story of the Watchorn Family Fund begins with the remarkable life of Robert Watchorn. Born in Alfreton, England in 1859, Watchorn left school at age 11 to work in the local coal mines. Often scheduled for 18-hour shifts, he labored at a time of few protections for workers, including children.  At age 22, with the help of church funds, he was able to emigrate to the U.S., where he took a coal mining job in the Pittsburgh area.  

After settling in his new home, Watchorn directed his passion toward improving the lives of miners and their families. He started a night school for miners and became involved in the union.  He was eventually elected president of the Pittsburgh District Miners' Union and was later named secretary of the National Miners' Union. Among his accomplishments, Watchorn was instrumental in ending child labor in Pennsylvania.  

In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt appointed Watchorn to be Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, tasked with improving the processing of new arrivals. When he was not reappointed by the next administration, Watchorn headed west to work in the oil business. He struck it big as a wildcatter with oil wells in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, amassing a fortune with his company, Watchorn Oil and Gas Co.  

Watchorn and his wife, Alma, were very generous with their wealth during their lifetimes, donating large sums to religious and educational causes in the United States and England. After Robert and Alma’s deaths, their charitable assets passed to Robert’s siblings, who continued to honor his legacy through their own family foundations.   

Barbara Watchorn Fiddler, a great-niece of Robert’s and longtime New Haven and Hamden resident, served on the board of one of the Watchorn family's foundations based in Pennsylvania. After the death of the most recent board chair, Fiddler and the few remaining board members decided to dissolve the foundation and transfer its assets to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. 

“Running the foundation, which was based in Pennsylvania, had become burdensome, and the attorney and accountant fees were reducing the amount available to grant,” says Fiddler.

Working with The Community Foundation, Fiddler created the Watchorn Family Foundation Fund. With her son and sister, she looks forward to the simplicity of making grant recommendations, including grants to their preferred educational institutions in the spirit of the original founder.