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Who Was Jim Casey?
James E. Casey was a visionary who revolutionized package delivery through the founding of United Parcel Service (UPS) and improved the prospects of millions of America's children by founding several of the nation's leading child welfare-oriented foundations.
His father's failing health forced Jim to leave school at age 11 to help support the family as a $2.50-a-week bicycle messenger for a department store in Seattle. Jim's father died four years later, in 1902, leaving behind a widow and four children. For two years, Jim and two friends ran their own messenger service in Seattle before heading to Nevada in 1905 to look for gold. They didn't find gold, but started another messenger business, fulfilling a growing need for businesses that had sprung up during the Klondike gold rush.
After one of his partners was murdered, Jim returned to Seattle. In 1907, he and a brother, George, and some friends started a new delivery service, American Messenger Company, which became Merchants Parcel Delivery in 1913. They expanded to Oakland, California in 1919 and renamed the company United Parcel Service. With its move to New York City in 1930, UPS began its development into one of the world's largest package-delivery companies.
One of the pre-eminent businessmen of his time, Jim never forgot his roots and remained true to the values his widowed mother instilled in him. "With uncommon prudence and frugality, she maintained for her three sons and a baby daughter the comfort and security of a home," Jim once recalled. "She always kept our clothes clean and mended, and had a warm, nourishing meal ready, regardless of the hour at which we were able to get home from work to eat it. Mother gave us encouragement and inspiration, and she instilled in us a code of ethics, without which I hate to think what might have happened in later years."
To honor their mother, the Casey siblings—Jim, George, Harry and Marguerite—created the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 1948 to make grants to programs that help disadvantaged children. In 1966, the siblings created an operating foundation, Casey Family Programs, to provide long-term foster care to children in Washington and, eventually, other Western states. At Jim's suggestion, the Annie E. Casey Foundation established Casey Family Services in 1978 to provide long-term foster care to children in Eastern states. Jim had become convinced of the importance of strong families through his interactions with his young messengers. When Jim died in 1983, he left his fortune to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has since become one of the largest foundations in America.
In 2001, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs collaborated in the founding of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative to help youth in foster care make successful transitions to adulthood.
The missions of the foundations that bear the Casey family name have been refined and expanded over the years. But all remain committed to improving outcomes for children.
The Casey Family Connections
Sources: Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, UPS.
