Decade: 1920s
The Met Cloisters: An Unlikely Pair Makes a Home for Medieval Art in New York City
Does philanthropy always require a perfect partnership to create something great? Peering behind the facade of The Met Cloisters museum reveals that the answer is sometimes “no.”
Public Health: How the Fight Against Hookworm Helped Build a System
A hundred years ago, hookworm disease was an epidemic across the US South. Northern philanthropy tried to help.
Rebuilding a Cathedral: The Media, American Money, and French Heritage
Stepping in to save French monuments without stepping on French pride.
Who Belongs in the Boy Scouts? Philanthropy’s Support for Black Scouting
A foundation struggled to make one of America’s oldest youth organizations more racially inclusive. But it only got so far under Jim Crow.
The “Insulin Gift”
In 1923, a wealthy philanthropist’s funding helped make life-saving treatment for diabetes available to patients and doctors.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Creates a National Park
Who defines the public good? The showdown caused when a wealthy philanthropist bought land and tried to give it to the American people.
The Long Road to the Yellow Fever Vaccine
The yellow fever vaccine developed in the 1930s has been used worldwide ever since. Creating it took years and cost several lives. Some thought it would never happen.
