Allen and Josephine Green moved to Mexico, Missouri after Mr. Green purchased the fire brick plant in 1910 that became the A. P. Green Fire Brick Company. Mr. and Mrs. Green established the Foundation by trust agreement in 1941, and it was reregistered as a non-profit corporation in 1962.
The original trust indenture stated "This Foundation is organized and created and shall be operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals. No part of the net earnings of the Foundation shall enure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and the Foundation shall not engage in, nor shall any assets or funds of the Foundation be devoted to, carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation."
In the early years large grants were made to Westminster College in Fulton to endow a chair in English literature; to the University of Missouri in Columbia to build the A. P. Green Chapel in the Memorial Student Union; and to Washington University to endow a chair in pediatric neurology; and for research in neurosurgery. Mrs. Green suffered from Parkinson’s disease which inspired over $900,000 in grants from 1951 to 1971 for research in Parkinson’s, mostly in New York and Massachusetts.
Today, because of the many requests, very large grants are seldom made, and medical research is not the area of focus that it once was. Practically all grants now go to programs and projects located in the state of Missouri. Emphasis is placed on central Missouri.