Topic: Activism
1950s
1960s
1970s
Funding a Social Movement: The Ford Foundation and Civil Rights, 1965-1970
A story recounting many accusations, from rigged elections to the meddling of big private money in grassroots organizing.
1970s
The Fairy Godmothers of Women’s Studies
Moving scholarship by and about women from margin to center.
In Brief: The 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference
The global conversation about women’s issues takes a big step forward.
1920s
1930s
Who Belongs in the Boy Scouts? Philanthropy’s Support for Black Scouting
A foundation struggled to make one of America’s oldest youth organizations more racially inclusive. But it only got so far under Jim Crow.
1960s
1970s
Ted Watkins and the Rockefeller Foundation: An Unlikely Partnership
How a charismatic community activist from Watts challenged a foundation’s civil rights strategy through a jobs training program.
1960s
A Hand in Urban Design: Rockefeller Foundation Support for Renowned Urbanist Jane Jacobs and New York’s Lincoln Center
One small grant gave enduring voice to one of the most famous critiques of postwar urban renewal, while another huge grant went to an opposing cause.