Allan King Sloan is the great-grandson of Zenas King, founder of the King Bridge Company, of Cleveland. He has contributed greatly to the bridge history programs at the Cleveland State University Library's Special Collections, though his personal participation in the Watson Publication Committee, and through his financial support of our Seventh Historical Bridges Conference, our reprinting of William Beyer's book on the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, our publications on local bridge tours and other projects, via his family fund.

The Allan King Sloan Family Fund is a donor directed charitable gift fund set up by the descendants of Zenas King and operated by Fidelity Investments. It was established in 2000 to provide funds to various non profit organizations involved in documenting and preserving historic bridges, particularly the old iron and steel bridges built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, founded by Zenas King in 1858 and directed by Zenas and his sons for the next six decades. The funds are designed to help historical and preservation societies, educational and other qualified tax-exempt institutions organize fund raising, prepare documents and displays, develop public support, run meetings, provide cost estimates, and other activities that lead to the preservation and maintenance of worthy old bridges.

As of the middle of 2004, the fund has made over seventeen grants to ten different organizations involved in various aspects of historic bridge preservation in New York, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, and Alabama. Through the King Bridge Company Museum website, information on the company and its operations and various preservation activities have been provided to many other groups and individuals all over the world. For information, visit www.kingbridgeco.com.