James Madison's Montpelier We The People Spring 2017 Montpelier_WTP_Spring2017_FINAL-1-web | Page 25

SPRING 2017
THE SPIRIT OF PHILANTHROPY
THE CORNELL PERSPECTIVE
An interview with Cornell Foundation trustee Joe Erdman
Since 2008, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation has contributed $4.8 million to The Montpelier Foundation to
support its programs, staff, and operations. The Cornell Foundation is a charitable trust created by the will of acclaimed 20th
century artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) that honors the memory of the artist and his disabled younger brother. The trust
supports a variety of nonprofit beneficiaries, with an emphasis on the arts and education. We spoke to Foundation trustee Joe
Erdman, pictured above with his wife, Rosemary, about Cornell’s ongoing support of Montpelier.
Why is James Madison important? What are your hopes for Montpelier?
Madison was fundamental to getting the
Constitution drafted and passed. And he was also
a political genius capable of organizing the votes
and the voices in support of the Constitution. He
had a great understanding of how to engineer
compromise. And today, if you look at our country,
I think the one thing we’re doing less and less
of is achieving compromise across political lines.
Madison’s participation in the Federalist Papers
and his primary role in explaining our young
democracy make Madison a unique and, frankly,
an often-times forgotten personality among the
great American presidents. He was so central and
crucial to our modern day Constitution. I think Kat has really moved the organization
forward. The important thing is to get Montpelier
to the point that it’s a required place to visit as
part of your journey to historic Virginia. It’s not
just Jefferson and Monticello and the University
of Virginia, Montpelier should be the third part of
that experience. Because it’s a little bit out of the
way, it probably needs a little bit more publicity
and money spent on advertising and I think it’s
prepared now to take advantage of that.
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