The William Allen White Foundation, chartered in 1944, began operating in 1945 as an affiliate of th William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. The founders specified that the organization should "emphasize and broaden an understanding of journalism, to which Mr. White devoted his life."

The Charter members were: Oscar Stauffer, Arthur Capper, Everett E. Steerman, R.A. Clymer, Dean W. Malott, Roy Bailey, Milton Tabor, Henry J. Allen, Will T. Beck, Fay N. Seaton, John Redmond, Ora G. Rindom, Henry Haskell, Roy Roberts, F.B. Ross, W.C. Simons.