Institution: Ford Foundation

1950s

In Brief: The South African Institute of Race Relations

How did a US foundation manage to work under apartheid?

1960s 1970s

Programming for the People: Diversity in Early Public Television

Philanthropy helped carve out a public space for the expression of race, culture, and critical perspectives.

1950s 1960s

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

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

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.

1960s 1970s

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.

1980s

In Brief: The West Africa Museums Programme

The staying power of a massive preservation project thanks to a focus on museum staff and museums’ communities.

Timeline: Foundations and the Walker Art Center

Decades of foundation involvement has helped this American cultural organization to grow, thrive, and innovate.

1980s

Philanthropy Helps Save the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

More than 700 major organizations and countless smaller individual donors helped restore a symbol of history and culture.

Photo of crop-drying site in Nigeria. The one story building is located under palm trees.
1960s

The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations Navigate Civil War in Nigeria

What happened to a massive agricultural development program when war broke out?

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?