Black Rock

To the Editors of the Crimson:

I read with interest your editorial in the September 20, 1984 Crimson on the status of the Black Rock Forest in Cornwall, New York. As you will appreciate, there are many who view the matter from a somewhat different perspective than you presented.

I would, however, suggest that perhaps it would be prudent to be more cautious and accurate when matters of fact are allegedly stated. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the editorial there is the following statement: "It also appears that Harvard may have siphoned income from the account. While the Black Rock Trust grew from 1.2 million in 1940 to 2.49 million in 1983 under Harvard stewardship the rest of the endowment increased more than eight times to 2.5 billion." The fact is that the Black Rock Forest Trust Fund is part of the Harvard endowment, and has been managed as part of the endowment in accordance with Harvard's general prudent practices. The income from the Black Forest Trust Fund has been used solely for the purpose for which it was established: support of forestry activities at Harvard.

The Black Rock Forest Trust was initiated by Dr. Stillman in 1940 by a gift of stock of a French corporation. Attached is a copy of the appropriate page of the Harvard Treasurer's Report for the academic year 1939-40. Sub-sequently, it turned out that this stock was essentailly valueless. The main gift of the endowment did not come to the University until the early 1950's and was in the form of a majority interest in the local press. It was this interest that was sold and formed the nucleus of these funds. If you would take the time to follow the status of the funds in the Treasurer's Reports for subsequent years. I do not believe you will find substantiation of the statement in your editorial. Richard G. Leahy