Topic: Communications

In this timeline, we will follow the path Ford Foundation programs took from the early beginnings to the end of the twentieth century. By no means comprehensive, this selection of grants, large and small, demonstrates the breadth and evolution of funding creativity over the decades. 

The mid-20th century was an era influenced by mass communications, and a handful of philanthropic programs sought to tap into the possibilities of film and radio.

Orson Welles’s 1938 radio performance of The War of the Worlds prompted a foundation to explore issues of media literacy and fake news.

The American public broadcast system as it exists today came out of years of work by organized philanthropy.

Stepping in to save French monuments without stepping on French pride.

What began as an attempt to find more job opportunities for historians went further and launched a new field.

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