William G. and Marie Selby Foundation

1. THE SELBY MISSION By investing in people through academic scholarships and supporting capital projects of local organizations, the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation looks beyond what is and enables change for what can be. 2. THE COUPLE William Selby was born February 1, 1884 in Marietta, Ohio. Marie Minshall was born on August 9, 1885 in Wood County, West Virginia. When Marie was young, her family moved to Marietta, Ohio. William and Marie married on January 31, 1908 in Marietta. Around the turn of the century, William‘s father formed the Selby Oil and Gas Company. It soon became one of the country‘s principal oil drilling farms. In 1948, the company merged with Texaco. In the first year of their marriage, the Selbys followed with keen interest the first transcontinental automobile race between Seattle and New York City. They decided to travel the course themselves and loaded their touring car with spare parts and camping equipment. They made the trip in six fewer days than the winning car in the race. Marie Selby became the first woman to cross the country by automobile. The Selbys started visiting Sarasota in 1909 and lived in their houseboat before moving to their bayfront home. Bill was a sportsman, who spent his leisure time hunting and fishing. They built a house in the mid-twenties amid the Cuban Laurels and banyan trees on a five-acre tract located on Sarasota Bay. This two-story stucco house, intended to be temporary, became their home on a permanent basis. Marie directed much of the landscaping on the grounds, planting extensive flowerbeds to enhance the native vegetation. 3. THE FOUNDATION Mr. Selby died in December of 1956, however, one year prior to his death, he set up the Charitable Trust with $3,000,000. Mr. Selby set up the trust because he wished to help young people. In his oil business, he encountered a great number of young men with untapped potential who were handicapped by lack of technical education. Not having children of their own, the Selbys were concerned about young people. They wanted to use their money to help the youth of future generations. After Mr. Selby‘s death, Marie Selby became heavily involved with the activities of the Foundation and encouraged giving to a variety of charitable organizations. She often matched a grant from the Foundation with an equal gift from her own resources. Marie Selby died in 1971 at the age of 86. She left her home and five acres for the development of a botanical garden. This property later became part of the world-renowned Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (this is a separate entity from the Foundation). She left $2,000,000 to provide an endowment for the gardens to help support the operation and maintenance. The balance of her $16,500,000 estate was left to the Foundation. USF Class of 1982-83, Selby Scholars The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation has made a significant impact on the lives of thousands of young people and on the operation of hundreds of charitable organizations. Two significant contributions to the Foundation, one in 1955 and one in 1972, totaling $19,500,000 have made possible financial assistance to individuals and organizations in excess of $120,000,000. At the same time, the corpus of the Foundation has been preserved and today has a market value of over $80,000,000. This insures a continuing contribution of nearly $3,000,000 a year for scholarships and grants to benefit the local community.