1939: Rockefeller Foundation

An organization chartered in 1913 for the permanent purpose of promoting the well-being of mankind throughout the world. Its program is concerned with certain definite problems in the fields of the medical, natural, and social sciences, the humanities, and public health. For work in these fields the Foundation during 1939 appropriated approximately $9,400,000. A statement of the major grants follows.

Medical Sciences.

In the field of medicine the Foundation's interest is centered on mental and nervous diseases and its contributions are largely for the furtherance of research and teaching in psychiatry and allied subjects. Among the appropriations made in 1939 for investigations and teaching in psychiatry were $106,080 to the University of Toronto, $85,000 to the Catholic University of America, $71,000 to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $60,000 to the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, $68,000 to the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, $35,000 to the University of Illinois, $30,000 to the University of Colorado, $27,400 to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Diseases for research at the Boston State Hospital.

Other grants in the field of medicine were $30,000 to Tulane University toward the maintenance of a subdepartment of psychiatry in the Medical School; $19,500 to Tavistock Clinic, London, for research on problems in the field of psychosomatic medicine; $27,000 to the University of Lund, Sweden, toward the enlargement of research facilities in neurology; $24,850 to the University of Brussels for research in neurophysiology and endocrinology; $50,000 to the Forman Schools, Litchfield, Conn., for support of studies on apraxia and related phenomena in children; $19,200 to the Child Research Council of Denver toward support of psychological studies; $75,000 to the University of California for research on hormones and vitamins; $50,000 to the Medical Research Council of Great Britain for research in endocrinology, psychiatry, neurology, and allied subjects; $36,000 to Yale University for research in endocrinology; $400,000 to Harvard University toward endowment of a School of Dental Medicine; $350,000 to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine toward support of a new department of preventive medicine and public health; $90,000 to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for a fluid research fund; $15,000 to Harvard University for the development of legal medicine; and $42,000 to Columbia University for research on the constitutional aspects of disease.

Natural Sciences.

In the field of the natural sciences the Foundation's program is confined almost entirely to experimental biology. Appropriations in 1939 were practically all for studies of the phenomena of life. They included $500,000 to the Johns Hopkins University for endowment of the departments of the biological sciences; $200,000 to Stanford University for research in biology; $189,000 to Yale University toward the support of its laboratories of primate biology; $115,000 to Oxford University for construction and equipment of a laboratory for research in organic chemistry; $80,000 to the University of Missouri toward the construction of a laboratory for research in genetics and $20,000 to this university for the support of research in genetics; $70,000 to the California Institute of Technology for the development of chemistry in its relation to biological problems; $60,000 to Washington University, St. Louis, toward the construction of a cyclotron in the Institute of Radiology for use in biological and medical experimentation; $50,000 to the University of California toward the expenses of cyclotron research in biology; $30,000 to the Johns Hopkins University for research in biochemistry; $24,000 to the University of Chicago for research in molecular spectra; $21,375 to the University of Utrecht for research on the biochemistry of growth substances; $16,500 to the University of Minnesota for research on the mechanism of osmosis; $15,000 to the University of Minnesota for research in lipoid metabolism; $11,465 to the Memorial Hospital for Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases for research on spectroscopic and chemical aspects of certain deficiency diseases; and $241,956 to the National Research Council toward its administrative budget and for studies and fellowships in natural sciences.

Social Sciences.

The Foundation has three spheres of special interest in the social sciences at the present time: social security, public administration, and international relations. Appropriations made during 1939 for projects in these fields were as follows: $940,000 to the National Bureau of Economic Research toward its research and cooperative programs; $225,000 to Brookings Institution toward the support of its research program; $165,000 to the Social Science Research Council for the work of its Committee on Social Security and its Public Administration Committee, and $105,000 for the general administrative expenses of the Council; $29,100 to the University of Wisconsin toward a study of the amount and distribution of income within Wisconsin; $11,000 to the University of Pennsylvania for the use of its Industrial Research Department; $18,000 to the Dutch Economic Institute for its research program; $55,000 to Harvard University toward the support of its Graduate School of Public Administration; $50,000 to Syracuse University for training courses in public administration under the direction of its School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; $30,000 to the University of California for the use of its Bureau of Public Administration in establishing measurement standards for local government activities; $30,600 to the Canadian Institute of International Affairs toward the support of research, study groups, and conferences; $10,000 to the Foreign Policy Association toward the support of its Latin American Information Service. Other grants were $60,000 to the University of Chicago toward the budget of the School of Social Service Administration, and $51,250 to the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The Humanities.

The program in the humanities is concerned with the techniques, such as museums, motion pictures, radio, drama, and libraries by which cultural levels of contemporary society are being influenced, and with the promotion of better international understanding through cultural interchanges. Appropriations in 1939 included $75,000 to the Museum of Modern Art for rotating funds for circulating exhibitions and for publication purposes; $60,000 to the American Film Center toward the support of advisory service to educational and public service agencies wishing to use motion pictures for their purposes; $19,380 to the National Film Society of Canada for educational services; $24,000 to Harvard University for a lectureship in broadcasting; $17,500 to Princeton University for a study of the value of radio to listeners; $25,000 to the Studio Theatre School, Buffalo, toward the development of school and community programs in drama; $25,000 to the National Theatre Conference for fellowships; $30,000 to Stevens Institute of Technology for research in the control of sound and light for dramatic purposes; $17,500 to Vassar College for preparation of reports of the Federal Theatre Project and of national modes of operating in the field of community drama; $60,000 to the American Library Association for European activities of its Committee on International Relations and $30,000 to this association for studies of library cooperation with Latin America; $25,000 to Bibliothèque pour Tous, Switzerland, for book purchases and development of regional services; $8,000 to the University of Chile for the development of its central library; $80,000 to the American Council of Learned Societies for fellowships, planning committees, and international activities; $31,700 to the American Council of the Institute of Pacific Relations for the preparation of English translations of source materials on Chinese history; $22,000 to the Payne Fund for the preparation of English texts and training programs for teachers for classes of foreign-born adults; $15,000 each to Stanford University and the Claremont Colleges for the development of Far Eastern studies; and $50,000 to Harvard University for research in criticism and in uses of language.

Public Health.

The Foundation appropriated $2,200,000 for the work of its International Health Division during 1939. This work included research on a number of selected diseases, among them yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, the common cold, rabies, syphilis, and intestinal parasitism; demonstrations in the control of certain of these diseases in their environment; cooperation with governments in the organization or improvement of important services of central or local health departments; and the development of public health education. Fellowships in public health were provided and public health personnel were given opportunities for training in connection with health demonstrations and through travel.

Officers.

The executive officers of the Foundation in 1939 were John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Raymond B. Fosdick, President; Thomas B. Appleget and Selskar M. Gunn, Vice-presidents; Alan Gregg, M.D., Director for the Medical Sciences; Warren Weaver, Director for the Natural Sciences; Joseph H. Willits, Director for the Social Sciences; David H. Stevens, Director for the Humanities; Wilbur A. Sawyer, M.D., Director of the International Health Division; Norma S. Thompson, Secretary; Edward Robinson, Treasurer; George J. Beal, Comptroller; Thomas M. Debevoise, Counsel; and Chauncey Belknap, Associate Counsel. Offices were maintained at 49 West 49th Street, New York City.