Stories from the History of Philanthropy
RE:source is a publication of the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), where a team of archivists, educators, and historians share stories, photo essays, timelines, educational resources, and updates on new research in RAC collections.
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New in our RAC Research Reports Series
New Research: Eugenics Research in China, Malaria Vaccine, Refugee Scholars, Institute of Pacific Relations
For this edition of our monthly series, records from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller of the Rockefeller family archives, as well as the papers of John Z. Bowers and Harold H. Loucks have been cited.
Spotlight on Photo Essays
Photo Essay: Mexico and the Launch of the Green Revolution
One foundation’s program in Mexico created the blueprint for ending hunger worldwide.
Photo Essay: A Mother, a Son, and Modern Art
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s passion for modern art influenced her children, especially her son Nelson Rockefeller, and continues to reach the public through the museum she co-founded.
Photo Essay: The Rockefellers, National Parks, and Public Lands
The nation’s parks, perhaps our most remarkable public resource, have a history of development through private giving.
Photo Essay: Supporting Minority Enterprise in the late 1960s
In 1968, the Ford Foundation began to make social investments using a new tool borrowed from the for-profit world, the Program-Related Investment.
Photo Essay: The Rockefeller Sanitary Commission and the American South
Battling hookworm on rural farms laid the groundwork for a global public health system.
Photo Essay: Radburn, New Jersey – the Town for the Motor Age
Philanthropy helped architects and planners create a new kind of suburban community in the 1920s.
Photo Essay: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the Design of The Met Cloisters
How an American philanthropist’s love of medieval art created an immersive Old World experience at The Cloisters museum in New York City.