Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a nonprofit institution dedicated to fostering the arts of opera, music, dance, drama, and arts education. Its objective is not only to exist as a physical place where the arts are created and performed, but also to promote and facilitate access to the arts to as wide an audience as possible.
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 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 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 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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
