The Scudder Association Foundation
The Scudder Association Foundation, founded in 1912 and dedicated to a tradition of “Service to Others”, is one of America’s oldest family charitable organizations. We support the hospitals and schools founded by the Scudder family in South India, award scholarships in the U.S. and India, promote kinship, and preserve Scudder family history.
SAF Leaders Visit India
SAF leaders recently visited India, celebrating the Vellore Diocese’s 50th anniversary and visiting institutions founded by Scudders. They witnessed inspiring dedication, progress, and urgent needs across hospitals and schools still deeply rooted in the mission of service to others.
Excellence at Scudder Memorial Hospital
A Patient’s Eye View from SAF Secretary Clive Connor. A recent visit to Scudder Memorial Hospital in Ranipet highlighted staff dedication, hospital cleanliness, and its commitment to serving the poor with dignity and excellence.
Distance No Problem
Distance was no object when the missionary Scudders were building schools, churches, and hospitals in poor areas of southeast India. This map shows the distance between the four institutions founded and supported by Scudders that continue to this day.
India: Up Close and Personal
Board Member Virgil Scudder witnessed religious devotion, dedication to healing, and warm hospitality on his January visit to India
Former SAF President Dies at 78
Charles S. K. Scudder headed the Foundation from 2017 to 2024, initiating many important changes.
The Rev. William Waterbury Scudder I: His Family Heritage and Youth in India and America
Courage would be required of this eight-year-old lad to set sail to a foreign land nearly 9000 miles from home.
Our Impact
Donated annually for scholarships and to Indian hospitals and schools
Patients helped annually at Vellore CMC Hospital
Students educated daily at Scudder schools in India
Patients treated daily at Scudder Memorial Hospital
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We Support Two Hospitals in India
The Foundation awards annual grants to hospitals founded by Scudders: Scudder Memorial Hospital founded in 1866 in Ranipet and the Christian Medical College and Hospital founded in 1900 in Vellore.
We Support Two High Schools in India
Arni Secondary School, located in the city of Arni, was founded by Pioneer John’s son, Rev. Ezekiel Scudder and his wife, Sara Tracy Scudder, in 1876. Pioneer John’s great-grandson, Walter, founded Walter Scudder High School in Tindivanam in 1922.
We Provide Educational Grants
Since the 1940s the Scudder Association has awarded scholarships in the fields of medicine, social welfare, the humanities, education and theology. Today these Scudder Scholarships are awarded to institutions of higher learning in the U.S. and India to be awarded to students of their choice.
We Research and Publish Family History
To promote interest in kinship the Foundation’s Family Historian researches family history and publishes The Scudder Historical and Biographical Journal available on our website. Books written by and about Scudders are available from Amazon.com.
Who We Are
In 1819 the Rev. Dr. John Scudder and his wife, Harriet, left Boston for India as the first medical missionaries sent out from America. “Pioneer John’s” seven sons all returned to India with their wives and founded hospitals and schools. Forty Scudders gave over 1,000 years of missionary service in India. The Scudder Association Foundation was founded as the Scudder Memorial Association in 1911 to raise funds to build a Scudder hospital in Ranipet, South India. A year later a separate organization, The Scudder Association of America, was formed to foster Scudder kinship. In 1938 the two organizations combined to form The Scudder Association, a non-profit organization.
Our Regular family membership includes descendants of three Scudders: Thomas, John and Elizabeth, who immigrated to Massachusetts Colony over 400 years ago from England. If you are one of the thousands of descendants of Thomas, John and Elizabeth, you are one of us and share our family history even if you do not have the Scudder surname. However, the Foundation welcomes anyone who is interested in our mission of helping those in need to join as an Associate member. The Scudder Association Foundation is open to all!
If you are one of the thousands of descendants of Thomas, John and Elizabeth, you are one of us and share our family history.
Our Mission
In 1819 the Rev. Dr. John Scudder and his wife, Harriet, left Boston for India as the first medical missionaries sent out from America. “Pioneer John’s” seven sons all returned to India with their wives and founded hospitals and schools. Forty Scudders gave over 1,000 years of missionary service in India. The Scudder Association Foundation was founded as the Scudder Memorial Association in 1911 to raise funds to build a Scudder hospital in Ranipet, South India. A year later a separate organization, The Scudder Association of America, was formed to foster Scudder kinship. In 1938 the two organizations combined to form The Scudder Association, a non-profit organization.
The Scudder Memorial Association was organized and incorporated in New Jersey in 1911 “to erect, equip, maintain and extend a hospital or hospitals in India, to honor and perpetuate the missionary work begun in 1819 by Rev. John Scudder, M.D.” His descendants founded two hospitals and two high schools in south India which are still supported by the Scudder Association Foundation over 110 years later.
In 1912 The Scudder Association of America, was formed by the descendants of Thomas and John Scudder who immigrated from Kent, England in the 1630s to Massachusetts “in the belief that an Association founded on a bond of kinship would prove an inspiration to generation after generation of American Scudders and their descendants wherever living the world over.” In 1938 the two organizations were dissolved and incorporated as one organization: The Scudder Association, Inc.
Renamed in 2018, The Scudder Association Foundation, Inc. continues the original missions of supporting the medical and educational institutions founded in India by Scudders, providing Scudder Scholarships to deserving and qualified students at institutions of high learning in the US and India and promoting kinship among Scudders worldwide.
Family History
Since the Scudder Association of America began in 1912 family historianss have been
gathering information about the Scudder family: from its early roots in Kent, England, to the American colonies in the 1630s and down to the 21 st century. They created an extensive Scudder family history that is carried on today by the Foundation’s Family Historian, Margery Boyden.
If you have Scudder related family history questions Contact the Historian.
To research your Scudder lineage visit our independent site scudderancestorsinamerica.com.
Scudder Historical & Biographical Journal
Family historians have been researching and writing articles about members of the Scudder family for almost 100 years. Take a look at these articles about our family members starting with Henry Scudder of Horton Kirby, Kent, England who died in 1594.” https://scudder.org/online-journal/
Become A Member
Join Today ~ All Are Welcome
- Regular Member: Descendant of Thomas, John or Elizabeth Scudder who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630s or the adopted child of a Regular Member.
- Associate Member: Any individual who supports the purposes of SAF but is not a linear descendant of Thomas, John, or Elizabeth or the adopted child of a regular member.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN!
Our Partners
Featured Posts
President’s Video
News from Scudder Hospitals
News from Scudder Schools
2023 bringing the schools a welcome from SAF and returning with an update on conditions at the schools. Frequent communication between the schools and the SAF India Grants Committee helps determine the needs of the schools and the best use of SAF grants.