The Lyndhurst Foundation is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based grant-making foundation organized in 1938 as The Memorial Welfare Foundation by Coca-Cola Bottling Company magnate Cartter Lupton. It was the first private foundation in Tennessee, and focuses on the enrichment and enhancement of the social, natural, and built environment in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the surrounding southeastern region.
With the death of Cartter Lupton in 1977 the foundation's name was changed to The Lyndhurst Foundation by Jack Lupton, the son of Cartter Lupton, who named it for the family mansion of the same name built by his grandfather John Thomas Lupton.[1]
The Lyndhurst Foundation has played a major role in the revitalization process of Chattanooga's downtown.[2] In 1995 the foundation gave $2.5 million towards a city-wide planning process.[3]
In 2007, the foundation launched CreateHere, a program focused on economic development and the attraction and retention of individuals associated with the creative class.[4]
In 1996 the foundation's grant of $10,000,000 effectively saved Double Take magazine from closing.[5]