Topic: Changing Political Contexts

Left side of the political poster reads "Éire" (Ireland), right side reads "West Britain". In between both images reads "Seachtain na Saoirse". Bottom of the print reads "On which side are you on? Language Collection Now On."
1920s

The Irish Language Debate: Nationalism and Rockefeller Foundation Medical Education Reform in the Irish Free State

Ireland’s independence revived the nationalist campaign for mandatory Irish language. The debate discouraged Rockefeller Foundation funders.

1960s 1970s 1980s

The Rockefeller Foundation’s University Development Program

Launched in the 1960s, this program provided financial support for more than two decades to strengthen universities in the Global South.

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s

Building Global Understanding: Area Studies, Language, and History

Encouraging cross-cultural knowledge in an interconnected postwar world by shaping new interdisciplinary programs and retooling traditional academic fields.

1940s 1950s

The Rockefeller Foundation and Civil Liberties During the Early Cold War

A foundation-supported publication challenged McCarthyism and caused a controversy.

1940s

Rebuilding Asia and Europe: the Rockefeller Foundation’s Role in Post-World-War II Reconstruction

Foundation policy toward reconstruction was shaped by uncertainty over Europe’s — and in particular Germany’s — future

The Rockefeller Foundation’s Refugee Scholar Program

Saving scholars threatened by Nazis was not easy, but choosing which ones to save was even more difficult.

1930s 1940s

World War II & the Rockefeller Foundation

Saving threatened scholars and confronting a dramatically changed world.

1960s 1970s

“Distasteful Regimes”: Authoritarianism, the Ford Foundation, and Social Sciences in Brazil

When the restrictive military regime that had taken power in Brazil in 1964 became even more repressive by 1969, staffers at the Ford Foundation found themselves facing a conundrum.

"Action shot of the Dictionary staff. Korean Language Research Society, Seoul, Korea." - caption on the back of the photograph
1940s 1950s

Saving a Language: The Korean Dictionary Comes to Life Against Tough Odds

What might appear to be a simple publication project came to fruition only after a decade of political upheaval, cultural repression, war, and Rockefeller Foundation support.

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?