Decade: 1950s

1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s

Black Education and Rockefeller Philanthropy from the Jim Crow South to the Civil Rights Era

Applying a vast fortune to the American race problem, but with decades of false assumptions and well-intended approaches that fell short.

1950s

In Brief: The South African Institute of Race Relations

How did a US foundation manage to work under apartheid?

1950s 1960s

In Brief: James Baldwin’s Creative Writer’s Fellowship

How a foundation provided the final ingredient to an era-defining novel.

1940s 1950s

Funding a Sexual Revolution: The Kinsey Reports

The inside story of the study that first questioned binary sexuality and spurred outcry and controversy.

Black and white image of "agronomistos", harvesting rice in a field.
1940s 1950s 1960s

Photo Essay: Mexico and the Launch of the Green Revolution

One foundation’s program in Mexico created the blueprint for ending hunger worldwide.

1950s 1960s 1970s

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund Supports Modern Environmentalism

Environmental education was once an unusual idea. The Audubon Society changed that and became the household name it is today.

Nine students listen to a lecture in a lecture hall. A female student raises her hand.
1950s 1960s

The Birth of the Modern MBA

Why would an American foundation transform the field of business education?

Elementary children of diverse ethnic backgrounds get ready to go inside their school, two hold hands
1950s 1960s

Can Data Drive Social Change? Tackling School Segregation with Numbers

In the years before Brown v. Board, a philanthropic fund hoped research and data would turn the tide on attitudes toward segregation.