Rockefeller Archive Center

If your office looks anything like Nobel prize-winning scientist Paul Ehrlich's, you deserve a break! Happy weekend! Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) was a German Jewish physician and scientist known as the founder of hematology, the study of blood. He was a pioneer and major contributor to the fields of histochemistry and immunology and most famous for developing a cure for syphilis. With Elie Metchnikoff, Ehrlich was the 1908 Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine for his studies... in immunology. The RAC preserves and makes available for research the Paul Ehrlich Papers. Photo: Paul Ehrlich papers, RAC. #PaulEhrlich #HistoryPic #VintageOffice #HistoryOfMedicine #HistoryOfScience #NobelLaureates #JewishHistory #GermanHistory #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram

American playwright, actor, and LGBTQ+ advocate Harvey Fierstein has a long list of accomplishments, notably his Torch Song Trilogy. The three plays of the Trilogy tell the life story of Arnold Beckoff, a gay Jewish drag queen in New York City who longs for love and family. In March 1979, when Fierstein was finishing the Torch Song Trilogy's final piece, "Widows and Children First!," he received a Rockefeller Foundation Playwrights Award. This award supported a one-year resid...ency at La Mama Experimental Theater Club, where Fierstein had been performing for years. The first two plays in the trilogy "International Stud" (February 1978) and "Fugue in the Nursery" (February 1979) made their debut at La Mama. In this November 1979 letter, Harvey Fierstein invites Rockefeller Foundation Director of Arts Howard Klein, to see "Widows and Children First!" at La Mama. Image: Rockefeller Foundation records, RAC. #PrideMonth #Pride2021 #GayPride #HavePrideInHistory #QueerHistory #Archives #Playwrights #DragQueensOfHistory #Theater #Theatre #TheaterHistory #HarveyFierstein #TorchSongTrilogy

Have any plans for creative projects this summer? These teen filmmakers in San Antonio sure did. This 1993 photo shows one of the many activities of the Guadalupe Community Center, which the Ford Foundation supported at that time. Image: Ford Foundation records, RAC. #Filmmaking #SanAntonio #SanAntonioHistory #GuadalupeCommunityCenter #1990s #Texas #TexasHistory #LatinXHistory #HistoryPic #Archives

Disability rights advocate Helen Keller was born #OnThisDay in 1880. In this 1943 letter to the Ford Foundation, she wrote, "too often it is forgotten that the blind are men and women with the same feelings and desires as those who see." The foundation answered with a grant of $11,000 to the American Foundation for the Blind. ... Image: Signature Letters, Ford Foundation records, RAC #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityRights #Accessibility #HelenKeller #PhilanthropyHistory #Signatures #Archives

What electoral campaign style speaks to you? Do TV ads even make a difference? In June 1968, Nelson Rockefeller's presidential campaign made an unusual advertising choice: they created this TV commercial that consisted of nothing more than a minute of filmed images of... the moon. There were no words, only music, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" by Gus Edwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr7tDhwi46A&t=7s #Vote #ElectionHistory #1960s #Rockefeller #moonlight #moon

The American public broadcast system as it exists today came out of years of work by organized philanthropy. As PBS turns 50 this month, we're taking a look back to early experiments in public broadcasting and educational television. Click below for more photos and the backstory. #PublicTV #TVHistory #PhilanthropyHistory #HistoryPic #MediaHistory #USHistory #PBS #PublicTelevision #ArchivesOfInstagram #Archives https://resource.rockarch.org//history-early-public-telev/

Archivists and educators from the Rockefeller Archive Center discuss the challenges of conducting research in archival collections and teaching with primary resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. They offer strategies, tips, and techniques for developing an effective research plan utilizing online collection description information as well as for accessing and using digitized primary source documents in your research and in the classroom. This video was filmed on October 20, 2020 as part of Archives Month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPH8-DNd3ME

Developing the first Hangul (Korean) dictionary was no small venture. In fact, the Korean-born project eventually came to fruition after ten years of development during political upheaval, widespread cultural repression, staff imprisonment, and all-out war. One unlikely partner in the publishing project was the Rockefeller Foundation, and the story is revealed through that institution's archives. https://resource.rockarch.org//history-of-the-korean-hang/ Image: Rockefeller ...Foundation records, RAC. #KoreanHistory #PhilanthropyArchives #PhilanthropyHistory #KoreanLanguage #Korea #HangulDay # # # # #

This week we lost a cherished colleague who has worked with generations of researchers here at the Archive Center. Tom Rosenbaum, who first came to the Archive Center in the 1970’s, passed away on Wednesday and will be greatly missed by all of us.

New from RE:source: the story of six decades of attempting to tackle Black education as a means of solving America’s race problem. Despite good intentions and the resources supplied by the vast Rockefeller fortune, work done in acceptance of the unequal framework of segregation fell short of creating true racial equity. And furthermore, the false assumptions driving segregation proved hard to overcome even after the law changed. #BlackHistory #BlackEducation #PhilanthropyHistory #Philanthropy #CivilRightsHistory #USHistory #Archives #HBCUPride #BlackExcellence https://resource.rockarch.org//black-education-and-rockef/

New from RE:source: Oceanography was not always a clearly defined scientific field. Funding on levels large and small helped this new area of research grow and evolve. It helped build world-renowned institutions, as well as smaller libraries, laboratories, and university programs. Many of these still lead the field.

For today's #FilmFriday feature, we travel back to 1940 and the work of the Rockefeller-funded General Education Board. "One Tenth of Our Nation" is a documentary film that shows the severe limitations of public education for the Black population in the American South at the time. With music by Roy Harris and narration by Maurice Ellis, a Black actor, the film shows poor conditions for African American students and narrates the historical context for how this came to be -- f...rom slavery to exploitative tenant farming. It also highlights school improvement efforts and specially-geared high school and college programs for Black students. Director Felix Greene contrasts footage of impoverished rural villages and farms with students learning job skills and receiving other modern training. While filming in Memphis, crew members were jailed on suspicion of being agitators. Each Friday until the end of August we are sharing archival films, videos, and clips from our collections that speak to the history of efforts to address racial inequality. The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center hold extensive audiovisual material (films, videos, and audio recordings) that span over 100 years of production. This includes many rare and last-remaining copies of influential 20th-century titles. The RAC audiovisual collections document the role philanthropy has played in the past, through the many domains touched by American foundations, individual donors, and the civil society organizations they support. These audiovisual collections are curated, catalogued, and preserved by RAC specialists, ensuring not only that this audiovisual material lasts for generations, but also that the material is easily searchable and accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKX9UzsWkqc&t=1s

We turn to Native American rights for today's #FilmFriday feature. "Indian Rights, Indian Law" is a 1978 documentary examining the work of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). In 1970, the Ford Foundation supported a special project within California's Indian Legal Services department. Eventually this project would become NARF, a Boulder, Colorado-based litigation group. As a report from the time explained, "NARF litigates to maintain the cultural heritage and identity of ...Indians to resist pressures for their forced assimilation, and in some cases to defend their private property interests. In the decades since its founding, NARF has successfully litigated cases involving Native American land rights, discrimination, preservation of fishing sites, and revenue from natural resource exploitation. Each Friday until the end of August we are sharing archival films, videos, and clips from our collections that speak to the history of efforts to address racial inequality. The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center hold extensive audiovisual material (films, videos, and audio recordings) that span over 100 years of production. This includes many rare and last-remaining copies of influential 20th-century titles. The RAC audiovisual collections document the role philanthropy has played in the past, through the many domains touched by American foundations, individual donors, and the civil society organizations they support. These audiovisual collections are curated, catalogued, and preserved by RAC specialists, ensuring not only that this audiovisual material lasts for generations, but also that the material is easily searchable and accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch

With so much in the news about the US Postal Service, we thought we'd share these gems from a Rockefeller family scrapbook. Envelopes addressed with minimal information -- a name (sometimes misspelled), a glued newspaper clipping, locations such as "New York, or wherever he lives" -- still found their way to their destination and are preserved in our collections. Quite a feat! Images: John D. Rockefeller Family Photographs, RAC. #archives #vintageenvelope #mail #Rockefeller #USPS #postalhistory #stamps #vintagestamps #letterwriting #1930s #handwriting #calligraphy #stampcollecting

For today's #FilmFriday feature, we are sharing a 1974 documentary, "They Call it Wildcat," about an employment program for recovering addicts and formerly incarcerated people in New York City. The program was a joint rehabilitation venture among local, state, and federal governments, utilizing methadone treatment, job training, Medicare benefits, and tutoring. The Wildcat Service Corporation operated the Supported Work Program, developed by the Vera Institute of Justice, in ...cooperation with the NYC Department of Employment, the US Department of Labor, and others. The film is presented by the Ford Foundation and directed and produced by George C. Stoney. Each Friday until the end of August we are sharing archival films, videos, and clips from our collections that speak to the history of efforts to address racial inequality. The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center hold extensive audiovisual material (films, videos, and audio recordings) that span over 100 years of production. This includes many rare and last-remaining copies of influential 20th-century titles. The RAC audiovisual collections document the role philanthropy has played in the past, through the many domains touched by American foundations, individual donors, and the civil society organizations they support. These audiovisual collections are curated, catalogued, and preserved by RAC specialists, ensuring not only that this audiovisual material lasts for generations, but also that the material is easily searchable and accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch

For today's #FilmFriday feature, we are sharing a clip from 1968 that shows Nelson A. Rockefeller talking about American ideals and race during his (ultimately unsuccessful) presidential campaign. The clip is an excerpt from a documentary titled "Rockefeller: The Man Who Can." A moderate Republican, Nelson Rockefeller was a civil rights advocate and friend and supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. He served as governor of New York from 1959-1973 and as as US Vice President und...er Gerald Ford from 1974-1977. Each Friday until the end of August we are sharing archival films, videos, and clips from our collections that speak to the history of efforts to address racial inequality. The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center hold extensive audiovisual material (films, videos, and audio recordings) that span over 100 years of production. This includes many rare and last-remaining copies of influential 20th-century titles. The RAC audiovisual collections document the role philanthropy has played in the past, through the many domains touched by American foundations, individual donors, and the civil society organizations they support. These audiovisual collections are curated, catalogued, and preserved by RAC specialists, ensuring not only that this audiovisual material lasts for generations, but also that the material is easily searchable and accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch

It's #FilmFriday, and we are sharing a documentary film from 1974 called "Turning Around: A Look at Neighborhood Housing Services." The film shows how poorer neighborhoods struggle when banks and government fail to invest in them, and examines the public-private partnerships that might encourage reinvestment in those areas. The film was presented by the Ford Foundation in cooperation with the Urban Reinvestment Task Force of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the US Departm...ent of Housing and Urban Development. It was produced and directed by Len Appelson. Each Friday until the end of August we are sharing archival films, videos, and clips from our collections that speak to the history of efforts to address racial inequality. The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center hold extensive audiovisual material (films, videos, and audio recordings) that span over 100 years of production. This includes many rare and last-remaining copies of influential 20th-century titles. The RAC audiovisual collections document the role philanthropy has played in the past, through the many domains touched by American foundations, individual donors, and the civil society organizations they support. These audiovisual collections are curated, catalogued, and preserved by RAC specialists, ensuring not only that this audiovisual material lasts for generations, but also that the material is easily searchable and accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch