This series contains 47 boxes of documents covering the years 1897 to 1961. This is a companion series to the Welfare General material and reflects the interest of the Rockefeller family, in particular John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and John D. Rockefeller 3rd, with issues and organizations specifically focused on American youth. The involvement of Mr. Rockefeller Jr. with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) dominates this series, accounting for 27 of the 47 boxes. The substantial material on these two organizations reflects both Mr. Rockefeller's strong Christian background and his choice of these agencies as the philanthropic vehicle for a variety of activities--missionary outreach, settlement work, sex education lectures, urban recreation, and the Training Camp activities during the World War I. However, most of the material in this series describes the support given to local Ys in the United States and abroad. The strong interest of Laurance S. Rockefeller and Mary French Rockefeller in the work of the YMCA and YWCA also is evident from these documents.

The World Affairs series reflects the Rockefeller family's contributions toward national defense and international relations. The series is divided into seven sections: Foreign Policy, including the Foreign Policy Association and the Council on Foreign Relations; Institute of Pacific Relations; National Defense, which includes material on war preparedness, veteran's organizations, civil defense, the Commander Byrd expeditions and the New York City Airport Authority; Post-War Reconstruction; Peace Plans, which contains material on peace organizations, the League of Nations and the United Nations (including material on John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s gift of the site for the United Nations headquarters); War Relief; and National War Fund.

The 1962-1976 general files chronicle management of the philanthropic affairs of the third generation of the Rockefeller family primarily Abby Rockefeller Mauze, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Laurance S. Rockefeller, Winthrop Rockefeller, and David Rockefeller.