Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment

The Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (MCRI) was formed in 1977 by about a dozen religious communities of women headquartered in St. Louis, including Sisters of Loretto. MWRI became a member of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in New York and filed some shareholder resolutions with other members of ICCR on many issues, including South Africa. MCRI also filed resolutions with locally-based companies including military contractors. MCRI filed resolutions and sought meetings with the banks about red-lining in the U.S. and the sale of South African gold coin called the Krugerrand. St. Louis banks selling the Krugerrand included Mercantile Bank, Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. and First National of St. Louis. Mary Ann McGivern of MCRI was one of some 185 signers of a March 1979 letter to President Carter asking him not to lift sanctions against Rhodesia after the April 20 internal settlement election, a December 1979 letter to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance related to export controls and the arms embargo against South Africa, and a late-1979 statement against the Sullivan Principles organized by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA). (Source: Mary Ann McGivern and documents on this website.)