The chartered purpose of the Russell Sage Foundation is the 'improvement of social living and living conditions in the United States of America.' It was established by Mrs. Russell Sage in 1907 with an original endowment of $10,000,000, to which she added $5,000,000 later in her will. The income of the Foundation in 1940 was approximately $570,000.
In carrying out its purpose the Foundation studies the causes of adverse social conditions in order to disseminate information of assistance to the public in endeavors to ameliorate, remedy or prevent such conditions. Over 60 per cent of its income is devoted to work carried on by its own staff. Among the more important areas of staff study are: organization of charitable and relief work, child welfare, city and regional planning, consumer credit, delinquency and penology, family welfare, handicrafts, housing reform, labor relations, interpretation of social work, recreation, social case work, social statistics, and social surveys.
While the Foundation is not primarily a contributing organization, it does make grants of upwards of 30 per cent of its income, chiefly to agencies with similar purposes, and in instances where it is believed particular pieces of work can be carried on with greater economy and efficiency by others. Among the types of activity financially assisted are: adult education; city planning; family welfare; education and training for social work; community organization; child welfare; placement and vocational service; legal aid; crime prevention; social welfare publications; improvement of race relations, and research in the social sciences.
The Foundation has published more than 130 books and over 200 pamphlets. Among its more recent publications are: 'Your Community,' by Joanna C. Colcord; 'Housing for the Machine Age,' by Clarence A. Perry; 'Consumer Credit and Economic Stability,' by Rolf Nugent; 'Civil Service in Public Welfare,' by Alice Campbell Klein; 'The English Hire-Purchase Act, 1938,' by John E. Hamm; and 'Migration and Social Welfare,' by Philip E. Ryan.
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