Topic: Individual Giving

Illustration shows a woman wearing a red dress, holding money, standing between the "Health Department Bureau of Licences and Inspection" and an opening in a wall labeled "Graft". In a cut-away showing the scene behind the "Graft", the man (probably a plainclothes officer) who collects the money through the opening in the wall is passing money to a uniformed officer, who in turn passes the money to a large hand (probably that of a politician) entering the frame from above; it is a wild scene with a woman lying on a table, the body of a man stabbed to death beneath the table, a man rolling dice, others drinking, and a shooting taking place in the background. While the woman in red hesitates, the implication is that she has no choice, but to pay the graft.
1910s 1920s 1930s

Sex Problems as Social Problems: The Bureau of Social Hygiene, 1911-1934

When Dr. Katherine Bement Davis was named general secretary of the Bureau in 1917, her appointment transformed the organization to take into deeper account women’s sexuality.

1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s

“A Very Broad Field”: Building the Rockefeller Foundation’s Humanities Program

The Rockefeller Foundation evolved to bring the arts and humanities together, from classical archaeology to contemporary museums.

1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s

Rockefeller Philanthropy and Population-Related Fields

As the scarcity of global resources became increasingly worrisome in the 20th century, these organizations more boldly approached work in population and family planning.

Photo Essay: The Rockefellers, National Parks, and Public Lands

The nation’s parks, perhaps our most remarkable public resource, have a history of development through private giving.

Profiles of Women in Philanthropy

In honor of Women’s History Month, we highlight thirteen individuals from our collections to show the range of contributions women have made in the field of philanthropy and in the world at large.

Black and white photo of the MoMa during construction.
1920s 1930s

Photo Essay: A Mother, a Son, and Modern Art

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s passion for modern art influenced her children, especially her son Nelson Rockefeller, and continues to reach the public through the museum she co-founded.

Walk way under a brick bridge at the Met Cloisters.
1920s 1930s

Photo Essay: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the Design of The Met Cloisters

How an American philanthropist’s love of medieval art created an immersive Old World experience at The Cloisters museum in New York City.