The papers of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller primarily consist of correspondence, including personal correspondence to family and relatives, biographical materials; art collection files, and files pertaining to her philanthropic activities.

This collection documents the private life and personal activities, largely philanthropic, of Abby Rockefeller Mauzé (1903-1976). The bulk of the material contained in the collection dates from before 1960.

The Charles E. Culpeper Foundation archives present a complete account of the foundation's activities in the years following the death of Charles E. Culpeper, during which the foundation devised and established its philanthropic mandate. The collection includes the Fiftieth Anniversary Report 1940-1990, a general overview of the foundation's involvement in the areas of health, education, arts and culture, and administration of justice, with a breakdown of funds provided for each field.

The Commonwealth Fund office used these files as a cross reference system for the grants. The files concentrate from the 1950s to 1981. The folders consist of cross reference sheets and correspondence. There are some reports and photographs. Original boxes 317, 325, 326, 332, 333, 341, and 342 were not sent to the Archives; consequently files from D, E, P, and W are missing. Folders for The Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts General Hospital are also missing.

Types of records include: officers' files.

Fellowships are an integral part of the Commonwealth Fund's history, and continually supported the varied public health, mental hygiene, and rural hospital programs of the CF. The advanced medical fellowships were first awarded in 1937, and although they primarily aided medical school teachers and research workers, individuals in other areas of health work also received financial assistance. About twenty fellowships per year were granted during 1950-1959, many of which entailed interdisciplinary studies, and by 1965 well over sixty fellowships were awarded yearly.

Series 4 contains annual reports from 1919-2002. A complete run of bound reports is available in the RAC Library. Individual soft cover reports are available in the archival collection. The Annual Report for 1986 is not available in the archival collection, but it is accessible in the RAC Library. Series 4 also contains a small selection of other reports and pamphlets spanning the mid-1980's through 1994.

Types of records include: manuscripts and library records.

An outgrowth of the Commonwealth Fund's relief activities in Eastern and Central Europe after World War I, the Austrian Program provided vital help in improving the health of children in Austria. From 1923 until 1929 the CF maintained an office in Vienna, and conducted a program of health and preventive medicine for children. Child health demonstrations were conducted in Salzburg, and similar activities transpired in Vienna, Klagenfurt, Graz, and elsewhere.

Types of records include: meeting minutes, financial statements, and reports.

Types of records include: meeting minutes and reports.

Types of records include: correspondence, meeting minutes, proposals, and financial material.

Types of records include: administrative and grant files.

The Commonwealth Fund announced its Child Health Program on June 29, 1922. The goals of the five year program were "safe-guarding the health of the mother-to-be, laying a good health foundation for children in the early sensitive and formative period of their growth and health supervision and the formation of the essential health habits in school children." The responsibility for the conduct of the demonstrations rested with the American Child Health Association, which had been recently formed through the merger of the American Child Hygiene Association and the Child Health Organization of America. The Child Health Demonstration Committee of the Commonwealth Fund oversaw the program, with Barry C. Smith chairman and Courtenay Dinwiddie executive director. Other notable participants in the program include Philip Van Ingen, Richard A. Bolt, L. Emmett Holt, Sally Lucas Jean, Livingston Farrand, Donald B. Armstrong, and Barbara S. Quin.

Types of records include: correspondence, grants, meeting minutes, publications, and personnel files.

The work of the Division on Community Clinics continued the efforts of Division II of the Program for the Prevention of Delinquency. Division II began its first demonstration child guidance clinic at St. Louis on May 10, 1922. With the expiration of the CF's five year program, the Cleveland Clinic's (December 31, 1926) and the Philadelphia Clinic's (June 30, 1927), demonstration nature ended, and they became permanent independent bodies. The entire Division II program was revised to stress increased use of the supervisory and consulting functions of the Division's field consultant staff, and promoted 1) continued contact with and supervision of the permanent clinics, and 2) additional field service to cities requesting assistance and advice regarding mental hygiene problems and programs.

The Commonwealth Fund established the Division of Health Studies as a separate division on April 1, 1931. The purposes of the organization were 1) to make periodic studies of the health conditions in the various communities in which the Commonwealth Fund worked, 2) assist in the development of division programs through the planning of administrative records and the appraisal of results, 3) conduct special studies in the field of health as from time to time seemed important in the development of the work of the Fund or would be of broad application.

The Commonwealth Fund's Division of Publications series is concerned with the publishing of books, journals, articles, and pamphlets. This series consists of correspondence, reports, financial papers, and a few pamphlets and books. The documents are mostly concerned with the financing and publishing of books, and the relationship of the Division with the authors and publishing companies.

The Commonwealth Fund announced in late 1929 a new project that began operation on January 1, 1930, and promoted rural health and medical service in the United States. The new program, instead of emphasizing child care, comprised all health services in rural communities. Initially the project was limited to two states, Tennessee (1930-1945) and Massachusetts (1930-1945), and to two counties or districts in each state. Later the program was also active in Mississippi (1931-1947), Oklahoma (1938-1949), Alabama (1938-1942), Arkansas (1945-1947), California, Florida (1945-1947), Kentucky (1945-1947), Louisiana (1946), Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington. Dr. William J. French, the first director of the CF's child-health demonstration in Fargo, North Dakota, and former head of the CF's Austrian Program, was named director. French resigned his post on April 4, 1931, and on May 15, 1931, Clarence L. Scamman became the new director of the Division.

Prior to 1925 the Commonwealth Fund granted only limited monies for the building or enlargement of hospitals, i.e., to Yale University for improvements to the New Haven Hospital, to the Grenfell Association for small hospitals in Newfoundland, to the Presbyterian Board of Missions for a hospital at Point Barrow, Alaska, and to Memorial Hospital in New York City to aid in the construction of a new building. The Fund's experiences with the Child Health Demonstrations included more than just child health services and brought the realization of the need for improved medical and surgical facilities in rural America. In June 1925 Henry C. Wright, hospital consultant, studied the possibilities of improving rural hospital services. Wright's study led to the establishment of the Division of Rural Hospitals and the appointment, in March 1926, of a director, Henry J. Southmayd, who served in that capacity throughout the division's existence.

Only two files from the Commonwealth Fund's Educational Research Program remain. The rest were destroyed on February 25, 1949, under Barry C. Smith's instructions. The first file, The Survey of Rural Education in New York State, was appeal #287 and received the Commonwealth code designation 1225-S. This survey, begun in 1920, represents one of the earliest projects funded by the CF. A "Committee of Twenty One" comprised of noted New York educators oversaw the survey project. Members from the Dairyman's League, The New York State Department of Education, the Farm Bureau Federation, the State Grange, the State College of Agriculture, the New York State Teachers Association, and the New York State Federation of Home Bureaus actively participated in the survey. Samuel C. Fairley, assistant director of the Commonwealth Fund, George M. Wiley of the University of the State of New York, and John H. Finley, New York State Commissioner of Education, directed the survey.

Types of records include: budgets, correspondence, and meeting minutes.

Grant actions comprise the largest series of the Commonwealth Fund records. The earliest grants funded a broad range of projects and associations and reflected the diverse and varied program of the Fund's beginning years. In many cases the grants were parallel or ancillary to existing Commonwealth Fund projects. Often, however, unrelated or special short-term grants were awarded. When the Commonwealth Fund's program became more oriented toward medical education and research, the grant actions mirrored this policy alteration. The records found in the Grants Series are the combination of the unprocessed Grants and Expired Grants Series.

The Harkness Family Papers are the private records of Edward S. and Mary S. Harkness. These documents are concerned with their donations to universities, schools, institutions and individuals. There is a great quantity of information on donations to schools and universities like Phillips Exeter Academy, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and others. There is a book on the residential halls of Yale University in the Harkness Family Volumes. The Harkness Family provided funds for organizations like the Pilgrim Trust in which further information can be found in the Harkness Family Volumes. There are other institutions which the Harkness family contributed to like Presbyterian Hospital, New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gifts and donations for servants, friends and family are documented. Members of the family include the Russels, the Stillmans and the Taylors. There are records of the Harkness family. These are mostly concerned with Edward S. Harkness' Estate and Trust after his death. The Harkness Family Volumes contains condolences offered at his death. The Harkness Family papers were examined by Malcolm P. Aldrich, Trustee of the Edward S. Harkness Estate. These documents consist mostly of correspondence, financial data, legal documents and reports.

The records of the Harkness Fellowships reflect the close personal relationship the Fund Instituted with over 1,800 fellows.

The records of the Harkness Fellowships reflect the close personal relationship the Fund Instituted with over 1,800 fellows. A typical file in Series 20.2 contains a fellow's application, his curriculum vitae and letters of recommendation, his fellowship report, and photographs. It was not unusual for fellows and officials at the Commonwealth Fund to maintain correspondence for more than twenty years, and files often contain family photographs, professional writings, and newspaper clippings from fellows who succeeded in a wide variety of fields. Such files clearly demonstrate that close and personal relationships were maintained by the Fund and the Harkness fellows.

The majority of the Institute's surviving records consist of financial statements, audits and correspondence relating to fiscal or budget matters. The minutes of the Institute detail the activities of the Board of Directors, the incorporators, the annual corporation meetings, and the committee dividing the assets of the Institute. In late 1937 the Commonwealth Fund decided that all case files pertaining to the treatment of children at the Institute should be destroyed. Therefore, in February of 1938 these records, as well as the index to these cases, were burned. Other folders in this series contain sensitive material.

Types of records include: administrative and grant files.

Types of records include: grant files and applications.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the Commonwealth Fund provided financial support for several unique projects concerning psychiatry, pediatrics, and the teaching/training of psychiatrists. Public and private institutions, as well as individuals, were recipients of these grants, with the majority going to universities and colleges. The records for the special studies consist mainly of correspondence and general files relating to a specific grant. Financial records are also found in the folders titled "General Files and Correspondence." A list of the original Commonwealth Fund code assigned to the grants is available in the print version of the finding aid.

Pilgrim Trust records primarily consist of Annual Reports, Minutes, and a variety of newspaper clippings.

Types of records include: meeting minutes, correspondence, speeches, and reports.

The Reference Files consist of ready-reference materials, primarily publications and articles, orginally compiled for the Commonwealth Fund Library.

Barry C. Smith served as General Director of the Commonwealth Fund, 1920-1947. During this period the reports were officially titled as Report of the General Director to the Directors of the Commonwealth Fund. Beginning in 1948, the offical title became known as Report of the President and Staff to Directors of the Commonwealth Fund.

Types of records include: financial material and general files.

This series is a vertical file created by Reginald H. Fitz consisting of articles, reports, studies, reprints and other associated subject matter.

Types of records include: blueprints, photographs, and maps. Images document the Harkness Family, Harkness House, Harkness Fellows. This series also contains a variety of material separated from the body of the early Commonwealth Fund grant records including grants in public health, rural hositals and disease research (FA290 Commonwealth Fund Grants, SG 1, Series 18.1) as well as the Division of Publications (FA285 SG 1, Series 13).

Important subjects in this collection include arbovirus research, encephalitis, International Health Division, microbiology, public health, Rockefeller Foundation reorganizations, Rockefeller Foundation virus labs, tick fever, tuberculosis, and yellow fever.

The John H. Knowles papers consist of professional and personal correspondence, reports, manuscripts, scrapbooks, appointment calendars, information files, photographs, slides, tapes, and a film relating to his administrative posts at Massachusetts General Hospital and The Rockefeller Foundation, and to his medical career. Most of the papers date from his tenure at Massachusetts General Hospital. There is very little concerning The Rockefeller Foundation or his personal life.

The Kenneth C. Smithburn papers document the career of research scientist Kenneth C. Smithburn in the identification and isolation of viruses, particularly the Yellow Fever virus in Africa. The papers also document more broadly the Foundation's interest in public health through the International Health Division and its successor, the Division of Medicine and Public Health. The papers span the years 1922 to 1974, with the bulk falling between the years 1938 through 1959.

The collection focuses upon grants awarded for biomedical research to institutions in the United States during 1983-1996. Grant records include correspondence regarding application criteria, financial awards, and periodic research reports. Administrative records detail program development and advisory committee decisions. A scrapbook, newspaper clippings, and photographs detail Calumet Farm, the horseracing concern which Mrs. Markey owned and operated.

Includes grant files, administrative files, correspondence, reports, minutes, financial material, annual reports and a small selection of personal materials. The collection is not comprehensive. Due to routine file purges, this collection includes only the records of the final personal beneficiaries, Markle Scholars, and the communications program, along with assorted administrative files. Documentation of other grants exist only in the minutes, progress reports, and collected reprints.

The Nelson C. Davis Collection will be of interest both to the historian of medical research and of medical education. The lecture notes and class papers prepared by Dr. Davis at all levels of his training have been preserved in this collection. Also included are drafts of papers, some of them unpublished, at various stages of preparation, reprints of his published articles, and a wide variety of supporting research materials (such as reprints and periodicals), many taken from Portuguese- or Spanish-language publications. A substantial portion of his laboratory diary (kept at Bahia from 1928 to 1933) can be found in this collection as well as a number of field notebooks and records of experiments. Personal correspondence, however, has been rather scantily preserved.

The Business Interest series documents the Rockefeller Family's investments and financial involvement in a variety of industries, companies, and geographic areas, including banks, oil, iron mining, timber, railroads, Rockefeller Center, and South America.

This series reflects primarily the activities of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., but significant documentation on the political and civic concerns of each of his sons is also present. In addition to extensive files on family support of the Republican Party on the national, state, and local level, separate folders exist on specific candidates, such as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, and New York Governor Thomas Dewey. There are substantial files on family support for Nelson Rockefeller during his first gubernatorial campaign and immediately afterward. However, very little material exists in this series on his presidential effort in 1960.

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 Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR) materials document the increasing role assumed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in the management of Rockefeller affairs and amply document his business and philanthropic affairs. They also chronicle the entrance of JDR Jr.'s sons, John D. 3rd, Nelson A., Laurance S., Winthrop, and David, into the world of business, philanthropy, civic leadership, and politics as they joined the office.

The files found in this series include correspondence by members of the Rockefeller family and their representatives and the officials of various institutions. Most of the material is unsolicited requests for aid. The material on institutions in which the family took an active interest, such as the International Houses, includes analysis, reports, general correspondence, contributions, and administration.

The Friends and Services series is primarily John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s personal correspondence with his friends and relations. Other files deal with a variety of support, service, and administrative activities such as the operation of the Family Office, family membership in social clubs, family doctors, management of family garages and stables, and arrangement for the biographies of John D. Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

The Homes series documents the management of four of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.'s and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s estates and their New York City homes. The estates are Ormond Beach, Florida; Lakewood, New Jersey; Pocantico Hills, New York; and Seal Harbor, Maine. The New York City homes are 4, 10, and 12 West 54th Street and the apartment at 740 Park Avenue. There is also information regarding John D. Rockefeller 3rd's apartment at One Beekman Place. Most of the material deals with property purchases, employees, the construction of homes, out buildings, and private roads, relations with neighbors and local communities, the contents of the houses (particularly art collections), and the general maintenance and operation of the various homes. The correspondence is between members of the family and the family office on the one hand, and estate managers, employees, contractors, real estate agents, neighbors, members of the various communities, and art dealers on the other.

The Housing Files comprise 8 cubic feet of material covering the years 1896-1962. The bulk of the material relates to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s activities in the housing field during the 1920s and 1930s. However, there are significant sections which detail the interests of Mr. Rockefeller, Sr. in Cleveland and New York City, and David Rockefeller in the Morningside Heights project. A few scattered files cover the activities of Messrs. John, Nelson, and Laurance Rockefeller in this field. Substantively, these files deal with Mr. Rockefeller, Jr.'s involvement with housing reform and housing projects during two distinct time periods: the period of great optimism and activity during the 1920s, and the period of destabilization and disengagement from the field after the coming of the New Deal and into the 1940s.

The Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR) materials document the increasing role assumed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in the management of Rockefeller affairs and amply document his business and philanthropic affairs. They also chronicle the entrance of JDR Jr.'s sons, John D. 3rd, Nelson A., Laurance S., Winthrop, and David, into the world of business, philanthropy, civic leadership, and politics as they joined the office.

This series consists of all material relating to John D. Rockefeller that could not be placed in the John D. Rockefeller papers (FA002) due to limitations of date and type of material. Of special interest are the correspondence files, including those related to boards, the Rockefeller family, and investments; and the files on the Forest Hill, Golf House, and Pocantico Hills properties.

The 35 boxes in this series cover the years 1898-1961. The Messrs. Rockefeller, Sr. and Jr., Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Abby Rockefeller Mauze, the five brothers, and their spouses are all represented in this series. Mr. Rockefeller, Jr., John D. 3rd, and Laurance S. Rockefeller are have the most connection to thse records.

The Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR) materials document the increasing role assumed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in the management of Rockefeller affairs and amply document his business and philanthropic affairs. They also chronicle the entrance of JDR Jr.'s sons, John D. 3rd, Nelson A., Laurance S., Winthrop, and David, into the world of business, philanthropy, civic leadership, and politics as they joined the office.

The Religious Interests series reflects the Rockefeller family's interest in and contributions to various churches and religious organizations. The files contain correspondence between members of the family and the family office, as well as officials and members of the various religious institutions. In some cases, the files include financial information on the appealing institutions. The miscellaneous files generally contain unsolicited appeals for donations. The series illustrates family contributions to religious organizations up to 1962. The contributions were made to a wide spectrum of organizations and activities, such as missionary movements, interdenominational cooperation, and religious education.

The Boards represented in this series are the most important philanthropies that have been developed from the Rockefeller fortune: the Bureau of Social Hygiene; the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation and its successor, the China Medical Board, Inc.; the Davison Fund; the General Education Board; the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the Rockefeller Foundation; the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now known as Rockefeller University); the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission; the Sealantic Fund; and the Spelman Fund of New York.

The materials in this series represent the Rockefeller family's involvement over the course of more than half a century with mainstream charitable and philanthropic organizations. With certain important exceptions, these papers focus on maintenance organizations, i.e., groups handling the chronic problems of the disabled, alcoholics, juvenile delinquents, orphans, the elderly, and the sick. For this reason, much of the correspondence and other material contained here is of a routine nature and constitutes what was once called the "citizenship" obligations of the Rockefeller family.

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 Ehrlich papers, a special collection of the Rockefeller University, consists of copy books and their typescripts, laboratory notes, correspondence, photographs, books, diplomas, obituary material and memorabilia. There is very little incoming correspondence in this collection, although a synopsis of about 450 letters is available. This synopsis may have been prepared by Martha Marquardt, Paul Ehrlich's secretary for many years. Many original letters by Paul Ehrlich, both handwritten and typed, with his signature are part of this collection. These letters seem to have been collected by the recipients and returned to Mrs. Ehrlich after her husband's death. Mrs. Ehrlich may also have requested reminiscences about her husband by his friends and colleagues which she collected, hoping to yield suitable material for a biography at a later time.

The Mideast Wheat Research and Training Project records contain general correspondence and administrative documents pertaining to the Turkish wheat stations and the various foundations and institutions connected to wheat research in Turkey during the 1970s. Correspondence, reports, and printed material detail the Center's wheat research work and plant breeding and its interactions with Turkish authorities and with other agricultural institutes and university agronomists. This collection documents the day-to-day work of the Center; for materials regarding the establishment and administration of the Wheat Research Center one should consult the files on Turkish Wheat Research in the Rockefeller Foundation project files, RG 1, Accession 83, Series 105 (804).

Important Subjects

The records include correspondence, conference proceedings, financial materials, annual reports, fellowships material, officers diaries, and personnel records.

The New Delhi Field Office records (RG 6.7) of the Rockefeller Foundation Archives document the operation of the office and the programs it administered in the medical, agricultural, and social sciences. The records span the dates 1935 to 1976, but 90% of the record group dates from the period 1956 to 1973 and relates to the Indian Agricultural Program (IAP), operated by the RF's Natural Sciences and Agriculture Division. The IAP records provide a comprehensive account of the RF's role in establishing an international collaborative program of technical assistance. They also constitute an important source for the study of the history of modern agriculture and agricultural education in India.

The International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation maintained an office in Paris from 1917 as the headquarters for the work of the Commission for the Prevention of Tuberculosis in France. In 1922, anticipating the transfer of the tuberculosis work to the French, and the expansion of work in Europe, the Board agreed to share space and administrative expenses with the Rockefeller Foundation's Division of Medical Education. The Nursing Survey of the IHB was to be carried on from the same location. Other administrative units of the Foundation concerned with work in Europe used the same office.

Correspondence of The Rockefeller Foundation consists principally of material not directly connected with an institutional grant. It includes: inter-office memoranda, correspondence between field officers and the home office, extracts from officers' diaries, forms and other material relating to fellowships; casual requests for information, employment, or aid; printed matter and letters of abuse received by the Foundation. As such, the General Correspondence provides insight into the day-to-day workings of the Foundation.

Correspondence of The Rockefeller Foundation consists principally of material not directly connected with an institutional grant. It includes: inter-office memoranda, correspondence between field officers and the home office, extracts from officers' diaries, forms and other material relating to fellowships; casual requests for information, employment, or aid; printed matter and letters of abuse received by the Foundation. As such, the General Correspondence provides insight into the day-to-day workings of the Foundation.

Rockefeller Foundation general correspondence:

Rockefeller Foundation general correspondence:

Rockefeller Foundation general correspondence:

Contains the correspondence and reports of the International Health Board/International Health Division (IHB/D) of the Rockefeller Foundation, including the Rockefeller Institute Virus Laboratories.

Published printed material supplied by non-profit publication.