1941: Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation was chartered in 1913 for the permanent purpose of 'promoting the well-being of mankind throughout the world.' The present program is concerned with certain definite problems in the medical, natural and social sciences, the humanities, and public health. For work in these fields the Foundation appropriated in 1941 approximately $9,000,000. A statement of representative grants follows.

Medical Sciences.

The purposes for which funds were provided in the field of the medical sciences in 1941 included the teaching of public health and preventive medicine in medical schools, development of tropical medicine, and teaching and research in psychiatry, neurology, endocrinology, and cancer and allied diseases. Among the appropriations for such work were: $600,000 to Cornell University Medical College for endowment of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine; $200,000 to Tulane University for the development of the Department of Tropical Medicine; $168,000 to the National Research Council for the support of the Welch Fellowships in internal medicine; $150,000 to the National Research Council toward the support of the work of the Committee for Research in Problems of Sex; $150,000 to Washington University, St. Louis, for the support of a Department of Neuropsychiatry; $150,000 to the University of Chicago for teaching and research in psychiatry; $120,000 to the Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases for the support of research, teaching, and professional care; $80,000 to Dart-mouth College for research in physiological optics; $25,000 to McGill University for research in endocrinology; and $20,700 to the University of Edinburgh for research in psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery.

Natural Sciences.

The program in the natural sciences was concerned almost entirely with experimental biology. Among the appropriations in this field in 1941 were $76,000 to the University of Rochester for cooperative research in the Medical School and the natural science departments of the College, using radioactive and stable isotopes for investigation of biological and medical problems; $52,000 to the University of Minnesota for research with radioactive and heavy isotopes as tracers of fundamental biological processes; $75,000 to Cornell University for research in the Department of Biochemistry; $70,000 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the development of an electron microscope in the Division of Biological Engineering as an instrument for research in the biological and the medical sciences; $65,000 to Stanford University for the development of an electron microscope; $60,000 to Cornell University for research in nutrition as related to aging and longevity; $48,500 to the Johns Hopkins University for research in nutrition, $30,000 being for use in the School of Medicine and $18,500 in the School of Hygiene and Public Health; $40,000 to the California Institute of Technology for research in chemistry in its relation to biological problems; and $34,520 to the University of Texas for research in genetics of drosophila.

Social Sciences.

In the social sciences the emphasis was on projects contributing not only to the understanding of important social problems but also to the development of personnel and methods. Appropriations in 1941 included $200,000 to the Social Science Research Council for conferences and planning, grants in aid, and fellowships; $150,000 to the University of Chicago for research in the Division of Social Sciences; $103,700 to the Council on Foreign Relations for support of study groups and research in problems involved in the peace settlement which will follow the present war; $70,000 to the National Bureau of Economic Research for its program of financial research; $51,500 to Yale University for research in the Institute of International Studies; $50,450 to the University of Minnesota for study of employment and unemployment; $50,000 as a special grant in aid fund in the social sciences to be allocated to institutions and individuals for studies in Latin American countries; $35,000 to the University of Minnesota for analysis of family and individual income in Minnesota; $30,000 to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research in the Industrial Relations Section; $20,000 to Dalhousie University for training and research in public administration.

Humanities.

The program in the humanities was concerned with the means, 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. In 1941 the American Council of Learned Societies received the following grants: $170,000 for microfilming scholarly materials, $100,000 for planning and development, fellowships, and the work of its Committee on Far Eastern Studies, $50,000 for the development of personnel and resources for teaching living oriental languages, $50,000 for the expenses of special intensive instruction in the Chinese, Japanese, and Russian languages, and $25,000 for a summer institute for intensive study of the Spanish and Portuguese languages; a grant of $60,000 went to Columbia University for its Office of Radio Research; $28,800 to the Library of Congress for studies of communication trends in wartime; $20,000 to the Museum of Modern Art for the study of films in wartime communication; $15,960 to the New School for Social Research for the study of totalitarian communication in wartime; $15,000 to the University of Michigan for teaching English to advanced students of Spanish American background; $12,500 to the Buffalo Museum of Science for advisory service and training of personnel in national museums of South and Central America; and $10,000 to the Library of Congress for assistance to South and Central American libraries.

Public Health.

The Foundation appropriated $2,000,000 for the work of its International Health Division in 1941. This work included research on a number of selected diseases, among them, yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, the common cold, rabies, syphilis, and diphtheria; demonstrations in the control of certain of these diseases in their environments, cooperation with governments in the organization or improvement of important services of central or local health departments; and the development of public health education. In addition a grant of $75,000 was made to the National Health Council for a study of private health agencies, and $250,000 was appropriated for the use of the International Health Division in supporting the activities of The Rockefeller Foundation Health Commission in European and other countries severely affected by war conditions.

Officers.

The executive officers of the Foundation in 1941 were Walter W. Stewart, 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. The offices of the Foundation are at 49 West 49th Street, New York.