Its founding followed several years of study by civic leaders, including a presentation to the Critic Club on February 11, 1922, of a paper by George Waverley Briggs about the growing national movement to create community foundations. The Critic Club later formed a committee, including Mr. Briggs, M.M. Crane, L.M. Dabney, George Bannerman Dealey, and J.K. Hexter, to explore the idea. Over the next few years, the concept was discussed throughout the community, as committee members worked to build interest in the project.

At the request of G. B. Dealey, Eugene P. Locke drafted a proposal from Belo, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, inviting three other Sponsors to join Belo in the creation of the Dallas Community Trust. The invited Sponsors were the Times Herald Printing Company, publisher of the Dallas Times Herald; the Dispatch Publishing Company, publisher of the Dallas Dispatch; and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. The proposal was presented to the other Sponsors on June 25, 1929, and it was filed for record, along with their acceptances, on July 18, 1929. The Dallas Bar Association became an additional Sponsor in 1971.

The Dallas Community Trust was formally renamed The Dallas Foundation on August 28, 1942, to avoid confusion with a similarly named organization, the Dallas Community Chest. In 2000, the Foundation began the process of converting from trust to corporate form, for reasons of administrative convenience and cost effectiveness. The Foundation officially began operating as a Texas nonprofit corporation on January 1, 2002.

The heritage of The Dallas Foundation is an integral part of the history of Dallas and its many farsighted civic leaders over the years. The future of The Dallas Foundation and its ability to benefit the residents of Dallas County is assured by the continued generosity and concern of its distinguished donors and Governors.

Adapted from A History of The Dallas Foundation, by Judith Garrett Segura