AIRLIE PRIVATELY FINANCED , STUDY OF RECORDS SHOWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030019-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: September 18, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized - Approveds0
er 19
FOIAb3b
o z.irlie Privately Fihancp
Study of ecods Sh.ws
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
th,-9dititn, State Depart-
tieR% tral Intelligence
Agency.
The records studied by The
Star contain no evidence that
Airlie House has received covert
funds. They also show that Airlie
House was operating at a deficit
from 1360, its first full year of
operation, until the past three
years when small annual sur-
pluses were recorded. In addi-
tion, there is no indication of
"dummy" foundation financing
of the type which led to disclo-
sures of secret CIA ties with'
other organizations earlier this
year.
AMENIMMIONIMMINIMINO.M001011
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 implication e 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.
.9110-
"Airlie has moved along from His statement catalogued a
number of specific allegations
the preliminary meetings in 1960
right up to the fully-booked pro, against the Airlie operation
gram that it has today. This has These were immediately and
have attended the conferences at said in a statement then:
tient clinic to serve conference
been no easy task. Groups that flatly denied by Dr. Head, who participants, but it ceased
operation four years ago. There
Airlie have paid only the mine. As the executive director
e of
never have been any plastic
mal costs, and they have come this foundation I cap categori-
surgeons on the staff there.
to Airlie relying heavily on the cally state that the alleged sup-
4. Higgs implied that CIA ties
credibility of the center which Port by the CIA can only be
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.
obate400-8
CPYRGHT
elaborate system of electronic
Jugging" equipment had been
nstalled in Airlie's main confer-
?.nce building and was capable
f secretly monitoring thee
2onversations of conference
ri-intir,teIn frsi- +ha frtic
tees stated, Airlie House in
eludes facilities for taping an
recording conference sessions.
but only if the conference direc
tor wishes to use them and s
requests. Recording are made a
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
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-
Airlie House, located on a
has been established over the, attributed to an overly fertile
:
1,200-acre estate in Warrenton, years." imagination, or for some reason
Va.i, west of Washington, has Caplin, who now practices law unknown to us a deliberate at-
in the District, serves without tempt to falsify the facts."
been the center of hundreds of pay as president of the Airlie The charge ? and the denials
conferences sponsored by a wide Foundation, a nonprofit corpora- ? were carried in the last edit:
, number of influential private tion. Dr. Murdock Head is the tion of The Star Thursday and
the first three editions of Fri- .
day.
Subsequently, the Airlie trus-
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
tees of the Airlie Foundation, A lawyer by profession, he has prepared by. Curran SC Company,
described the struggles Airlie been disbarred in Mississippi, a certified public accounting
and is riot a member of the Dis- firm in New York City.
trict bar. He has been work- 5 Points Listed
fag to gain enough petitions
in Washington, Maryland, and In . detailing what they said
Virginia to place the name of were specific errors in Higgs'
Dick Gregory, the Negro come- account, the Airlie trustees+
dian, on the ballots as a third made these points: .
party candidate for president in 1. Higgs claimed that an
next year's election. investigation of Mrs. Head's
public from the beginning and I Called Press Conference JPcets, Lillian and Robert':
can state categorically that j Gibson, showed they had fewe
there has been no covert Einem- Higgs called a press confer.: assets. He said a credit report '
ing of the Airlie Foundation. once at his house, 618 D St. NE, , showed Gibson worked as a '
"I believe that Airlie House is and issued a 16-page, typewrit. washing machine salesman and
ten statement detailing his ac
making a major contribution to . his wife was employed by a
the intellectual and scientific count of what he claimed were beauty parlor. In fact, the
progress of our nation, and it is covert governmental ties to Air- Gibsons are not Mrs. Head's.
an effort that has been made e
lie House. He would not say spe- parents. Mr. Gibson, a retired ?ie e 1
possible by the generous support "`-a"e
Y what prompted his Army major, is Dr. Head's i
of Dr. and Mrs. Murdock Head four-month personal investiga-? stepfather and Mrs. Gibson is 1
B
and other private individuals. tion of Airlie. ut when ques-
tioned about his motives, he in-
dicated he was concerned about
CIA involvement in domestic af-
' faira.
Sanitized - Approved For Rele
and public groups. Some of the founder and director of Airlie
nation's leading scientists and House.
, scholars, as well as prominent , The charge of secret govern-
figures from Congress and the : mental support for Airlie was
White House, have attended the; made last Thursday by William
private meetings there. .ireiliggs, a civil rights activist and
Mortimer Caplin, the commis-supporter of radical causes.
sioner of the Internal Revenue" Most recently, he has worked
Service during the Kennedy ad- with Julius Hobson in the sue-
ministration and the current cessful court challenge to de
president of the board of trus- facto segregation in the District.
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
IIouse has been open to the
his -mother. Mrs. Gibson is a I
retired Louisville (Ky.) business-
woman who owned, among
other things, three beauty
q? CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030019-8
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.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030019-8
CPYRGHT
In addition, the company's
records show a number of notes
due and owing to Dr. and Mrs.
Head.
Besides Caplin, the following
are listed as officers and mem-'
bers of the board of trustees:1
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. Katzenbach Jr.
Berne is the only member to,
receive any financial remunera-
tion?$3,000 a year.
Operations Described
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 governmental
organizations involved in fields
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." ?
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030019-8