39 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
39 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Private Organization"
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tags:
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- Organization
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- CIA
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- MKULTRA
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- CIAFront
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- Georgetown
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summary: "CIA funding conduit operated by Dr. Charles Geschickter that channeled approximately $2.1 million to MKULTRA researchers, including a $375,000 contribution toward a Georgetown University Hospital research building with CIA-reserved patient beds."
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location: Washington, D.C.
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relations:
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Georgetown University]]"
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role: "375,000 dollar gift toward the Gorman research building, 1957 (CIA funds routed through the Fund)"
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start: 1957
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fn: 4
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created: 2026-06-03
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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The Geschickter Fund for Medical Research was a family foundation operated by Dr. Charles Geschickter that served as a [[CIA]] funding conduit. About $2.1 million flowed through the tightly controlled foundation to other researchers. In all, the Agency put $655,000 into Geschickter's own research on knockout drugs, stress-producing chemicals, and mind-altering substances at [[Georgetown University Hospital]] in [[Washington, D.C.]][^1]
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### The Georgetown Hospital Deal
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In 1955, Geschickter convinced Agency officials to contribute $375,000 in secret funds toward construction of a new research building at Georgetown University Hospital. Since this money appeared to come from private sources, unwitting Federal bureaucrats doubled it under the matching grant program for hospital construction. The Agency had a clear understanding with Geschickter that in return, he would ensure they received use of one-sixth of the beds and total space for their own "hospital safehouse," providing a ready source of "human patients and volunteers for experimental use." The arrangement would provide cover for up to three TSS staff members. [[Allen Dulles]] personally approved the contribution and then took it to President Eisenhower's special committee to review covert operations, which also gave assent. This was the only time in a quarter-century of behavioral control activities when documents show CIA officials went to the [[White House]] for approval.[^1]
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The Subproject 35 file printed in the August 3, 1977 joint hearing records a General Counsel memorandum of December 21, 1954 (pp. 121-122) and approval by the Director of Central Intelligence on January 15, 1955 of a $125,000 contribution through the Fund toward a research wing, with a further $250,000 requested in 1955 (memorandum of May 10, 1955, pp. 127-128).[^2] The file describes the Fund as a corporation with a six-member board and an executive director, which had "solicited funds from various individuals to finance a program of basic research in the chemotherapy of cancer, asthma, hypertension, psychosomatic disorders and other chronic diseases." Since 1951 it had "co-operated with the Chemical Division of TSS and acted smoothly and efficiently, both as a cut-out for dealing with contractors in the fields of covert chemical and biological warfare, and as a prime contractor for certain areas of biological research." The background of the Fund's leading figure, whose name is deleted in the file, states that he "is TOP SECRET cleared and witting of Agency sponsorship of the programs carried out by the Fund as are two other members of the Fund's Board of Directors."[^2]
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Geschickter testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research on September 20, 1977. He said that the Fund had existed since 1939, that the agency's first contract with it was for anticancer compounds, and that "the report that came to me from Allen Dulles" included the line "Thank God there is something decent coming out of our bag of dirty tricks. We are delighted."[^3] He said of the building: "In 1957, I gave some money to the building fund of Georgetown University Medical Center. I never gave them a penny for any particular building," and, when the figure of $515,000 was put to him, answered "$375,000, not $515,000." He said he had not seen the Subproject 35 memorandum until the Saturday before the hearing, that "I never had the money," and, of the hospital safehouse arrangement, "I knew nothing of this. Neither did Georgetown."[^4]
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### Continued Operations
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Under [[MKSEARCH]], Geschickter continued to provide TSS with a means to assess drugs rapidly. He branched into trying to knock out monkeys with radar waves to the head, a technique that worked but risked frying vital parts of the brain. The Fund remained available as a conduit until 1967, when President Johnson forbade CIA support of foundations. The Agency simply transferred funding from the foundation to a private company of which Geschickter's son was secretary-treasurer.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*, Chapter 12.
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[^2]: "Project MKULTRA, The CIA's Program of Research in Behavioral Modification," joint hearing, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, August 3, 1977, archive.org/details/project-mkultra-congress-hearing-1977, Appendix C, memorandum of December 21, 1954, pp. 121-122; memorandum of May 10, 1955, pp. 127-128; Tab A, p. 136.
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[^3]: "Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977," hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, United States Senate, September 20 and 21, 1977, archive.org/details/human-drug-testing-by-the-cia-1977, testimony of Charles F. Geschickter, Sr., M.D., pp. 44-45.
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[^4]: "Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977," hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, United States Senate, September 20 and 21, 1977, archive.org/details/human-drug-testing-by-the-cia-1977, testimony of Charles F. Geschickter, Sr., M.D., pp. 84-85 and p. 94.
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