A History of Giving

David's maternal great grandparents on the Williams side gave buildings to Williams College and Lehigh University. On the House side they started The American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece. On his paternal side he has ancestors that go back to the founding of Hartford and Middletown Connecticut. His Grandmother's work on genealogy and archeology is housed in two places: The Indian & Colonial Research Center (now The Old Mystic History Center) and Tomaquag Museum of Rhode Island.

Ruby's maternal ancestors travelled by Conestoga wagon to the Oregon Territories in 1847. Ruby's father, Norman Calvert Smale was part of the founding of OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and was their first Planetarium director.

David created CromwellButlers.com to help capture our family history and create a visual family tree. With his sister Susan, he built and maintains CromwellAlumni.com as a virtual yearbook for people who attended the Cromwell school system, with pages that go back to the 1880's.

Our choices for giving fall into two categories:

1. Supporting organizations our parents or grandparents founded. Especially Eva L. Butler, John Henry House, and Norman Calvert Smale.
2. Supporting organizations that directly align with our own values and principles. Such as helping North American indigenous peoples and charities that help others directly. Habitat for Humanity and Doctors without Borders are on our giving list.