The diary is arranged by interview and visit. John Marshall is an associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation's Humanities Division. The program is concerned with history, philosophy, linguistics and the arts. Grants are organized into intercultural studies, humanistic research, the arts and special projects. Marshall takes a trip to the Near East from 1 March-31 March 1957. Topics that are discussed during this trip include philanthropy and the arts in Turkey, the Istanbul Conservatory, and teaching English in Egypt. The diary also details Marshall's conversations with Lincoln Kirstein regarding his impression of performing arts in the United States and Canada.