Decade: 1930s
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 Commonwealth Fund and the “Insanity Defense”: Unexpected Outcomes
Our understanding of the insanity defense relies on a book that was an unintended outcome of a Commonwealth Fund grant.
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.