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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
