ORIGINS OF THE FOUNDATION
The first governing board of the foundation, elected in 1935, included Joe Cooper; J.E. Miller, cofounder of Miller & Paine department store; Charles Stuart, business investor and developer; attorney Max Beghtol; Sam Waugh, president of the First Trust Company; and E. N. Van Horn, president of Continental Bank.
The minutes of that meeting recorded Joe Cooper’s thoughts and ideas for the future:
“He had originally intended for the Foundation to purchase and build homes in which worthy boys could be housed and provided for, but the more he thought about the plan, the more he realized that this was not as feasible nor would it care for as many boys as it would if the foundation worked through some local organization which provide homes for boys where they not only have the conveniences and environment of home life but the direction of individuals who are interested in their future. We would also enjoy a broader scope of operations and boys deserving further education could be looked after. The Foundation would then be more flexible, and the Trustees could determine from time to time what they thought best for the Foundation to undertake.”
“He also stated that he had practically reached an agreement with Paramount whereby the Foundation would receive the benefit of the income of all the Lincoln theatres which they now own. However, he expected to reserve the management of such theatres for himself during his lifetime, and all dividends and earnings would accrue to the Foundation. After his death, the Trustees would determine the management.”
At that meeting the Treasurer reported a bank balance of $31,732.28.
In the early days the Foundation acquired assets including leases and bonds on theater properties. In 1943, Mr. Cooper created a deed of trust that transferred stock interests in several theater companies to the Foundation. Operation of movie theaters created new duties and liabilities for the trustees. An executive committee was appointed to work closely with Mr. Cooper to learn more about the business, meeting with him in New York in late 1944. Mr. Cooper died unexpectedly in March of 1946, and the management of his sprawling theater business became the responsibility of the Cooper Foundation trustees.
Sam Waugh was vice-chair of the board in 1946. His comments to the theater managers in their first meeting after Joe Cooper’s death exemplify the board’s intentions:
“Naturally we are going to look to each and every one of you to get recommendations to us, so we hope to be able to make contributions to the communities from which this money is being taken. You men managing these theaters must broaden your outlook as to social problems that are going on right in your community. The Trustees of the Cooper Foundation are not interested alone in operating the most successful theaters financially in your communities. They are interested in operating the very best theaters in your communities. Of course, we want to make money, but we don’t want to make it at the expense of the Foundation or the reputation of the Foundation, which is going to endure long after all of us have passed out of the picture.”
It would not be easy. The estate was complicated, and settlement drawn out over many years. Mr. Cooper had negotiated with Paramount for years to try to reacquire their shares in his theater business, eventually filing a lawsuit to attempt to gain complete control of his company. The lawsuit with Paramount was settled, and various theater companies consolidated so the Foundation could own outright the whole business. This came at a huge financial cost.
As trustee J. Lee Rankin recalled, “Such settlement arrangements required large sums of cash for which the Foundation had to commit and pledge its assets. This was a serious worry to the trustees. They could imagine the unfavorable public reaction if the Foundation would be unable to meet its substantial obligations.”
EARLY GRANTS
Mr. Cooper’s deed of trust required the Foundation to split the profits equally between community grants and the Foundation’s own endowment to grow it to $5 million, and to maintain it into perpetuity. Between 1944 – 1970, over $2.1 million in grants were contributed in Lincoln and Omaha, and in the communities in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Minnesota where we had theaters.
Early grants reflect Mr. Cooper’s deep interests, including support for orphanages and schools, camps, and enrichment programs for boys and for girls, war relief and famine relief, agricultural programs, and higher education. Cooper Foundation provided support for many organizations that are still serving our community today, including CEDARS, Boys Town, 4-H, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, YMCA, the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and the Urban League (which later became the Malone Community Center). Until her death in the 1970s, the Foundation directed funds to charities in Philadelphia and New York at the request of Mr. Cooper’s sister, Anna Girsh. Mr. Cooper established scholarships at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in honor of J.E. Miller and Charles Stuart and would do the same for many trustees. Eventually, those funds were consolidated into the Trustees Merit Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation, an endowment to provide annual support for Merit Scholars.
A VOLATILE BUSINESS
The movie theater industry was always a speculative one, and some theater enterprises prospered and some struggled. The Cooper Foundation trustees managed the operations through a general manager and regional and city managers. They oversaw financing, debt service, leases, concession operations, employee salaries, and capital construction and renovations, with a direct report from the general manager each month.
Beyond the business environment, the trustees faced a greater challenge – the Cooper Foundation’s exempt tax status was revoked in 1948. An agreement was reached with the Internal Revenue Service, but by 1958 it had fallen apart and the Foundation was required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in income taxes for the theater operations, even though all net income had been directed toward charitable purposes.
By 1963 the theater operations were in trouble. The board suspended grant approvals due to lack of income. They undertook an intensive study of the status and operations of each individual theater and hired an interim manager. By the end of the year, they had appointed the first full-time President of the Cooper Foundation, trustee E.N. “Jack” Thompson, to oversee the operations of both the Cooper Theatres, Inc., and the Cooper Foundation.
A NEW ERA
Jack Thompson worked to reorganize and streamline the theater operations. He hired new managers, sold underperforming properties, and renovated others. Most critically, he negotiated a $1 million loan from Chase Manhattan bank which enabled the Foundation to finance this work.
Jack had a background in journalism, had worked as a government analyst and for the U.S. Department of State, and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was President of First Trust Company in Lincoln when he joined the Cooper Foundation board in 1953. Upon being appointed President of the Foundation in 1964, he quickly learned the complexities of the movie theater industry. He recalled:
“Through a complication of circumstances, the net worth had dwindled to $2,000,000, half of which we later charged off as obsolete. Although Colorado theatres were profitable, Oklahoma City had become a disaster in the theatre business and was losing money heavily. To add to the strength of one-half dozen Cooper Theatres, we bought at bargain prices several more obsolete theatres already closed by Warner Brothers, in order to control all the theatre properties in downtown Oklahoma City. Once this was accomplished, we sold all the theatres giving control of the market to the buyer, and we were free of that loadstone!
Meantime, many of the Cooper Theatres were obsolescent although the three new round theatres designed by Mel Glatz in Denver, Minneapolis and Omaha were leaders in the industry. Gradually, the other theatres were brought up to date, sold or traded to other circuits, which was done with the collaboration of key staff members Herman Hallberg and Chuck Kroll, along with the lawyers and accountants.
In addition to overseeing the theater operations, Jack was an active member of the National Association of Theatre Owners. He assisted CEO Jeremy Rifkin in developing the movie rating system for the MPA (Motion Picture Association) that was instituted in 1968 and is still used today.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Cooper Theatres prospered, building several more theaters in Colorado and Nebraska. The Cooper Foundation ultimately prevailed in its battle with the IRS to confirm tax-exempt status in 1972. The Foundation sold the Cooper Theatres business for $4 million dollars in 1975, almost double its value just 11 years earlier, and within several years sold all the theater properties (except the Cooper Plaza in Lincoln, which was sold in 1997). By the end of 1979, Commonwealth Theatres of Kansas City, Missouri owned the whole enterprise.
The Cooper Theatres, which began as one immigrant’s American dream, was served by scores of dedicated employees and delighted hundreds of thousands of moviegoers. Most importantly, it provided the basis for a community fund that will live in perpetuity, “long after all of us have passed out of the picture.”
Theater History-Behind the Silver Screen of the Cooper Theatres
THE COOPER FOUNDATION TODAY
The Cooper Foundation finally reached Joe Cooper’s goal of a $5 million endowment upon the sale of his business, and the Foundation’s work became focused solely on management of that endowment and grantmaking for the community. By 2024, the endowment had grown to over $26 million, and $30 million granted to the community to support education, arts and humanities, civic engagement, the environment, and human services.
We are indebted to our past and present trustees for their steadfast diligence and care, in particular Jack Thompson for his leadership and business acumen. Our board of trustees continues to include leaders with strong business expertise, active community engagement, and involvement in our areas of grantmaking. Cooper Foundation Trustees
Banner Photo: Cooper Foundation Trustees, 1977
Richard Knudsen, Legal Counsel; Jack D. Campbell;
E.N. Thompson; R. Erle Cambell; Burnham Yates; T.A. Sick;
Robert Dobson; Judge W.W. Nuernberger