The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Museum of the American Revolution have announced gifts totaling nearly $100 million from the estate of H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, who passed away in 2018.

Approximately $50 million will be used to expand the endowment of the Lenfest Institute, which Lenfest founded in 2016, when he donated his ownership of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other media properties to the institute. An additional bequest of approximately $50 million was allocated to the Museum of the American Revolution, the largest gift in the museum’s history. An original signatory to the Giving Pledge, Lenfest was the museum’s founding chair, and he and his wife, Marguerite, donated more than $60 million to the museum during his lifetime.

“Gerry’s foresight in establishing the Lenfest Institute as the philanthropic partner to the Inquirer has reverberated nationally, as more news outlets look to us and rethink their business models,” said Rosalind Remer, chair of the Lenfest Institute board of managers. “This bequest will help ensure a sustainable future for local journalism so that all Philadelphians have the news and information they need to be engaged in our communities.”

“We are deeply grateful to the Lenfest family, without whom the Museum of the American Revolution would not have been built,” said R. Scott Stephenson, president and CEO of the museum. “Gerry understood the critical role that a strong endowment plays in the financial stability of a nonprofit organization such as ours. As we celebrate our fifth anniversary and look ahead to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026, this extraordinary gift will strengthen our ability to ensure that the promise of the American Revolution endures.”

(Photo credit: Museum of the American Revolution)