Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s Wartime Humanitarian Causes

Date Published: January 1, 2024
​Date Modified: March 4, 2026

Insights into Thomas J. Watson Sr., Traditional Founder of IBM from
"THINK Again!: 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century"

Documenting Tom Watson’s Wartime Humanitarian Causes

It is easy to suggest through the list below that no single individual in the United States of America held so many critical positions within so many war relief organizations. ​Tom Watson’s involvement in wartime humanitarian activities existed long before World War II came to the United States with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
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This list chronicles for posterity Tom Watson’s foremost World War II and Korean War humanitarian activities. *

• 1939 National Finnish Relief Committee
• 1939 Commission for Polish Relief, Inc.                               
• 1940 United Committee for French Relief                           
• 1940 British War Relief Society, Inc. of USA
• 1940 China Emergency Relief Committee (CERC)
• 1940 Greek War Relief Association                                       
• 1940 Queen Wilhelmina Fund, Inc.                                        
• 1941 American Friends of Yugoslavia, Inc.                        
• 1942 Russian War Relief, Inc.                                                  
• 1942 American Friends of Norway, Inc.                              
• 1943 Emergency Comm. to Save the Jewish People of Europe
• 1944 Belgian War Relief Society, Inc.
• 1944 Friends of Luxembourg, Inc.                                          
• 1947 Christian Committee of the United Jewish Appeal
• 1952 American-Korean Foundation, Inc.                      

• Donor/Member
• Founding Member/Director
• Trustee
• Director
• Cofounder, Administrative Comm.
• Founding Director
• Chairman of Sponsors’ Comm.
• Founding Member/Director
• Founding Member/Director
• Director/Sponsors’ Comm.
• Co-chairman
• Director
• Sponsor
• Chairman
• Supporter/Director

In the prologue of THINK Again! 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century, TIME wrote that Tom Watson Sr. “unlike many joiners, worked hard at everything he gave his name to.”

​Within this context this list only serves to document the breadth, not the depth of Tom Watson’s involvement in such humanitarian causes. Even though he carried the title of sponsor, director, trustee, or chairman, he was always striving to contribute more than the title alone suggests. As one example, in 1941 he was a founding member and an on-going director of the American Friends of Yugoslavia’s humanitarian efforts. Over the next four years, in 1942, 1943, and 1944, Tom Watson Sr. was also this organization’s National Fund Raising Campaign Chairman.

This is also not an all-inclusive list. It does not include activities which either provided relief under the auspices of these agencies or were agencies supported indirectly by Watson through his corporation. As an example of the latter, IBM donated machinery and operational personnel in logistical support for organizations such as the International Red Cross (ICRC), Bundles for Britain, British-American Ambulance Corps, the Nuremberg Trials, and others.
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This list also does not include Tom Watson’s involvement in humanitarian organizations over the course of his lifetime such as the leadership positions he held in the Salvation Army, the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children, the Silent Guest Foundation, the Save the Children Foundation, the YMCA and YWCA, the Red Cross, the USO and USO-Camp Shows, the Army/Navy/Army Air Force Relief Societies, and many others.

​* The dates shown here are the earliest dates of Tom Watson’s involvement as discovered through Peter E. Greulich’s research. Further research may discover earlier involvement.

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