The Cultural Interests series reflects the Rockefeller family's involvement and contributions in the areas of the arts, museums, parks, and historic restorations. The series contains correspondence between members of the Rockefeller family and the Family Office Staff on the one hand, and officials and members of the various institutions and organizations on the other. Most of the material concerns unsolicited appeals for donations. Some members of the family were also members of or were active in several of the organizations, and some of the correspondence reflects this activity.

The family members who figure most prominently in this series are John D. Rockefeller Jr., John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Laurance S. Rockefeller, and David Rockefeller. John D. Rockefeller Sr., Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Winthrop Rockefeller, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, Mary French Rockefeller, Margaret (Peggy) McGrath Rockefeller, and Martha Baird Rockefeller also appear.

The Colonial Williamsburg section of the Cultural Interests series comprises 29 manuscript boxes of material covering the years 1926-1961. While this section does not cover all aspects of the restoration from the initiation of the idea in 1926 through John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s death in 1960, most major facets of this massive project are included. The main focus of this material is on John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s participation in the origin and development of the idea of restoring the Tidewater city to its authentic mid-eighteenth-century condition. There are folders for each of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s gifts, which totaled over $450 million by 1960. The financial history of the restoration can be traced through a series of Treasurer's reports, operating budgets, and annual reports, as well as memoranda between John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Kenneth Chorley, Carlisle Humelsine, Vernon Geddy, and John D. Rockefeller 3rd.

The quality and inclusiveness of the documentary material drops sharply after 1954, as a consequence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s increasing age, the retirement of Kenneth Chorley, the modest financial success of the restoration, and the resignation of John D. Rockefeller 3rd from the Chairmanship. This last event provides an interesting counterpoint to the main theme of the Colonial Williamsburg files and one fully covered by the documents included here. John D. Rockefeller 3rd supported his father's efforts to complete the historical restoration, but he also hoped to use Williamsburg for broader educational and less antiquarian purposes. During the entire period of his tenure as Chairman (1939-1953), but especially during the years 1948-1952, he sought to convince his father and fellow trustees that Williamsburg could play a central role in the effort to revitalize American democracy and to remind the country of its political and economic heritage. John D. Rockefeller 3rd's resignation stemmed from John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s growing reluctance to see any resources diverted from the central objective of restoring Williamsburg.