The Russell Sage Foundation was instituted by Mrs. Russell Sage in 1907 as a memorial to her husband. Its purpose is the 'improvement of social and living conditions in the United States of America.' It endeavors to carry out this purpose through the study of social conditions and the analysis of social problems and by spreading the information which it so collects. The total endowment provided by Mrs. Sage was $15,000,000. Its income at present is approximately $575,000 per year. It was established when available funds for the study of social problems in this country were very small; and the emphasis it has given to such work has undoubtedly had influence in the increased funds devoted to social research during the last two decades. One of the first grants of the Foundation was to the Pittsburgh Survey of 1907-09, which had a part in starting a long series of studies of local social problems throughout the nation.
About 60 per cent of its income is devoted to work carried on by its own staff. Among the more important areas in which the staff has conducted studies are: charity organization and relief, child welfare, city and regional planning, consumer credit, delinquency and penology, educational methods in the grades, employment and labor relations, family welfare, handicrafts, housing reform, interpretation of social work to the public, recreation and community centres, school hygiene, social case work, conditions in Southern highlands, social statistics, social surveys, and zoning.
The Foundation has published over 130 books and over 200 pamphlets. Printing of books, pamphlets, educational measuring scales, forms, catalogs, etc., now runs about 200,000 pieces per year. Among its most recent publications are: 'Social Work Year Book 1939,' edited by Russell H. Kurtz; 'Lawyers and the Promotion of Justice,' by Esther Lucile Brown; 'Your Community,' by Joanna C. Colcord; 'Housing for the Machine Age,' by Clarence A. Perry; and 'Consumer Credit and Economic Stability,' by Rolf Nugent.
The other 40 per cent of its income is given to agencies with kindred purposes. Among the activities assisted are: better housing; training for social work; child welfare; improvement of country life; legal aid; race relations; and research in the social sciences. Its headquarters are in New York City.
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