Welcome to The Meadows Foundation

We are a private family foundation on a mission to improve the quality and circumstances of life for the people of Texas now and in the future.

Our Founders

Al and Virginia Meadows believed all Texans deserve the same gift they were afforded – the opportunity to live a happy, healthy, and productive life.

Algur Hurtle Meadows was born in Vidalia, Georgia, in 1899. Virginia Garrison Stuart was born in Ryan, Oklahoma, in 1902 and spent time with her family in Shreveport, Louisiana. After moving around the south, Al also settled in Shreveport, where they met. They married in 1922. Al worked for Standard Oil by day and studied law at night.

Al left Standard Oil to start his own oil and gas finance firm and later founded a production company. He and Virginia moved to Dallas in 1936. He eventually built General American Oil Company into one of the largest independent producers in the nation.

We are often asked why we only give to programs benefitting Texas. After all, it was really Al and Virginia’s adopted home state.

While they gave to causes in Louisiana, Georgia, and other national and international areas, Al and Virginia chose Texas to receive the majority of their wealth as an everlasting gift to the state and its people who had been so generous to them. At the heart of their philanthropy was a commitment to be a perpetual resource for good in Texas.

Our Giving

Since Al and Virginia established the Foundation in 1948, more than $1.38 billion has been awarded in grants and charitable distributions to 3,700 institutions and agencies serving the people of Texas.

Over the last 76 years, our funding has included arts and culture, civic and public affairs, education, environment, health, and human services with initiatives in postsecondary completion, educator preparation, water conservation, depression, and homelessness.