Topic: Civil Rights

New Research: Iran Rural Health, Philanthropic Timeliness, Graciela Olivarez, and Chilean Agriculture

In this round-up, researchers report their findings from RAC holdings including the Rockefeller Foundation records, the personal papers of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. and his advisor, Frederick T. Gates, and those of David Lelewer, advisor to John D. Rockefeller, 3rd.

Timeline: A Century of American Philanthropy’s Engagement with Race and Racism

Delving into a century of philanthropic engagement with race, from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights era.

1960s

“Highest Standards”: Elite Philanthropy and Literary Black Voices during the Civil Rights Era

Against a backdrop of white, establishment concepts of literary excellence, one foundation struggled to appreciate Black voices.

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.

Black African American Boy Scout Leaders (Scoutmasters) pose for a photograph, sitting in rows with an American flag
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.

A room full of African-American students attending a lecture in 1955 as part of the United Negro Collection fund.
1960s

The Origins of the Rockefeller Foundation Equal Opportunity Program

How a simple grant request seeded the launch of a full program addressing inequality.

Elementary children of diverse ethnic backgrounds get ready to go inside their school, two hold hands
1950s 1960s

Can Data Drive Social Change? Tackling School Segregation with Numbers

In the years before Brown v. Board, a philanthropic fund hoped research and data would turn the tide on attitudes toward segregation.