AIRLIE PRIVATELY FINANCED, STUDY OF RECORDS SHOWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP69B00369R000200240122-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 16, 2003
• Sequence Number: 122
• Publication Date: September 17, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Airlie Privately Financed,
Study of Records Shows
Airlie House, one of the na-
tion's best known conference
centers, is supported solely by
private sources, a study of its
corporate books indicates.
Airlie trustees have made
available their financial and tax
records to refute a charge that
the center is secretly financed
by the Pentagon, State Depart-
ment, and Central Intelligence
Agency.
The records studied by The
Star , contain no evidence that
tlon, until the past three
'dtlhen small annual sur-
"dumrliy" foundation financing
of the type which led to disclo-
sures of secret CIA ties with
other organizations earlier this
year.
Airlie House, located on a
1,200-acre estate in Warrenton,
Va., west of Washington, has
been the center of hundreds of
conferences sponsored by a wide
number of influential private
and public groups. Some of the
nation's leading scientists and
scholars, as well as prominent
figures from Congress and the
White House, have attended the
private meetings there.
Mortimer Caplin, the commis-
sioner of the Internal Revenue
Service during the Kennedy ad-
ministration and the current
president of the board of trus-
tees of the Airlie Foundation,
described the struggles Airlie
House encountered while rising
to a position "second to none"
among similar private confer-
ence centers in the nation.
"It's been a very long and
difficult road that has been fol-
lowed," he said. "The record of
the financial support of Airlie
House has been open to the
public from the beginning and I
can state categorically that
there has been no covert financ-
ing of the Airlie Foundation.
"I believe that Airlie House is,
making a major contribution to
the intellectual and scientific
progress of our nation, and it is
an effort that has been made
possible by the generous support
of Dr. and Mrs. Murdock Head
and other private individuals.
"Airlie has moved along from
the preliminary meetings in 1960
right up to the fully-booked pro-
gram that it has today. This has
been no easy task. Groups that
have attended the conferences at
A Statement on Airlie
The editors of The Star, having examined the records
of the Airlie Foundation, are persuaded that this institution
is privately financed. The foundation has demonstrated
conclusively to them that it is not, as charged last week,
secretly supported by the Central Intelligence Agency or
other government agencies. There is no evidence that any
member of the foundation's staff or board of trustees is
connected with the CIA.
The Star retracts contrary implications in its articles
on Airlie of September 14 and 15, and regrets embarrass-
ment caused the foundation, its executive director, trus-
tees and members of their families.
Airlie have paid only the mini-] Subsequently, the Airlie trus-
mal costs, and they have come
to Airlie relying heavily on the
credibility of the center which
has been established over the
years."
Caplin, who now practices law
in the District, serves without
pay as president of the Airlie
Foundation, a nonprofit corpora-
tion. Dr. Murdock Head is the
founder and director of Airlie
House.
The charge of secret govern-
mental support for Airlie was
made last Thursday by William
Higgs, a civil rights activist and
supporter of radical causes.
Most recently, he has worked
with Julius Hobson in the suc-
cessful court challenge to de
facto segregation in the District.
A lawyer by profession, he has
been disbarred in Mississippi,
and is not a member of the Dis-
trict bar. He has been work-
ing to gain enough petitions
in Washington, Maryland, and
Virginia to place the name of
Dick Gregory, the Negro come-
dian, on the ballots as a third
party candidate for president in
next year's election.
Called Press Conference
Higgs called a press confer-
ence at his house, 618 D St. NE,
and issued a 16-page, typewrit-
ten statement detailing his ac-
count of what he claimed were
covert governmental ties to Air-
It,, House. He would not say spe-
ical what prompted his
or-month personal investiga-
tion of Airlie. But. when ques-
tioned about his motives, he in-
dicated he was concerned about
CIA involvement in domestic af-
fairs.
His statement catalogued a
number of specific allegations
against the Airlie operation.'
These were immediately and
flatly denied by Dr. Head, who
said in a statement then:
"As the executive director of
this foundation I can categori-
cally state that the alleged sup-
port by the CIA can only be
attributed to an overly fertile
imagination, or for some reason
unknown to us a deliberate at-
,empt to falsify the facts."
The charge - and the denials
- were carried in the last edi-
tion of The Star Thursday and
the first three editions of Fri-
day.
tees met with editors of The Star
to provide point-by-point rebut-
tals of the allegations. They
made available copies of Airlie
Foundation's 1966 federal in-
come tax returns as well as a
financial report of the founda-
tion dated Dec. 31, 1966, and
prepared by Curran & Company,
a certified public accounting
firm in New York City.
5 Points Listed
In detailing what they said
were specific errors in Higgs'
account, the Airlie trustees
made these points:
1. Higgs claimed that an
investigation of Mrs. Head's
parents, Lillian and Robert
Gibson, showed they had few
assets. He said a credit report
showed Gibson worked as a
washing machine salesman and
his wife was employed by a
beauty parlor. In fact, the
Gibsons are not Mrs. Head's
parents. Mr. Gibson, a retired
Army major, is Dr. Head's
stepfather and Mrs. Gibson is
his mother. Mrs. Gibson is a
retired Louisville (Ky.) business-
woman who owned, among
other things, three beauty
salons.
2. Higgs asserted that "an
elaborate system of electronic
bugging" equipment had been
installed in Airlie's main confer-
ence building and was capable
of secretly monitoring the
conversations of conference
participants. In fact, the trus-
tees stated, Airlie House in-
cludes facilities for taping and
recording conference sessions-
but only if the conference direc-
tor wishes to use them and so
requests. Recording are made at
the expense of the conferees.
There are no "bugging" devices.
And, since Airlie does have
conferences where classified
information is discussed, "ob-
vious precautions are taken to
preclude monitoring."
3. Higgs alleged that Airlie 1,
House maintained a large;
medical clinic and had two'
physicians specializing in plastic
surgery on its staff. In fact, the
trustees said, both statements
are false. Originally, Airlie
House did have ?a small outpa-
tient clinic to serve conference
participants, but It ceased
operation four years ago. There
never have been any plastic
surgeons on the staff there.
4. Higgs implied that CIA ties
to Airlie were demonstrated by
the fact that one of the founda-
tion directors once worked for
that agency. He identified
Joseph J. Sisco, Dr. Head's
brother-in-law, and presently
assistant secretary of state for
international organization
affairs, as "a former CIA em-
ploye." But, the trustees said,
Higgs neglected to say that
Sisco worked only six months
for CIA in 1950.
5. Higgs concluded that what
he claimed was a failure to find
any source of substantial income
for Airlie, and the foundation's
"extensive ties with former
intelligence officers and federal
employes," convinced him of
secret government links. The
foundation records clearly
disprove any such conclusion.
Income From Fees
The 1966 income tax returns,
for instance, show the principal
source of income-$448,893.81-
came from standard conference
fees. The next largest source of
income, $73,630.67, were from
television and film production
receipts.
Only a total of $42,665 was
listed as income received from
gifts and contributions from
other sources, and a large part
of those gifts came personally
from Dr. and Mrs. Head. The
other contributors were from
individuals and organizations
known to be free of.customary
CIA conduit channels.
In addition, the company's
records show a number of notes
due and owing to Dr. and Mrs.
Head.
Operations Described
Besides Caplin, the following
are listed as officers and mem-
bers of the board of trustees:
Edwin L. Bain, treasurer; Dr.
Brian Blades, Gen. Lemuel C.
Shepherd, J. Henry Berne,
secretary; Newton Minow,
Joseph J. Sisco, Jane G. Head
and Edward L. 1KAUchach Jr.
Berne, is? tie Q lymemb r to
receive any financial remunera-
tion-$3,000 a year.
In the tax return filed with the
U.S. government, the foundation
describes its operation and itself
in these words:
"Airlie Foundation, a nonstock
corporation, was originated
primarily to promote an under-
standing and appreciation of the
interrelationships which exist in
the physical and social sciences,
and to disseminate basic factual
material relating to these
sciences. In the pursuit of these
objectives. in 1966, its main
activity was the operation of a
conference center for education
al, scientific, and governmenta:
organizations involved in field:
local, national and international,
A secondary operation was the
production and distribution of
motion picture films in educa-
tion, the sciences, and the arts.
These films were produced for
governmental and professional
organizations, as well as for the
general public through the
medium of television. In these
activities, Airlie Foundation has
worked in close cooperation with
universities, professional socie-
ties, federal agencies."
Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP69B00369R000200240122-3