The birth of transnational u.s. philanthropy from the spirit of war: Rockefeller philanthropists in World War I

Abstract: World War I significantly impacted U.S. society and politics long before the United States officially entered into the war's frontlines in 1917. A particular group of colorful and highly emblematic public elite actors in this respect were charitable foundation philanthropists. With the soon-to-be globally active Rockefeller Foundation a cohort of ambitious U.S. progressives and social engineers utilized their war experiences to shape the wartime philanthropic agenda and in fact disregarded American neutrality. From the outbreak of the war in 1914, they mobilized themselves to the point of pleading for and entering into direct commitments at home and abroad, especially in the European war zone. With the official entry of the United States into war in early April 1917, Rockefeller officials and collaborators became openly “combat” philanthropists, resolutely assisting the moral stabilization efforts of the U.S. military and conducting support campaigns to bolster, most notably, the American alliance with France. The incubation and infancy period of Rockefeller philanthropy as a subsequently ubiquitous phenomenon of the American twentieth century is inseparable from the impact of the Great War

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: The journal of the gilded age and progressive era. - 17, 4 (2018) , 650-662, ISSN: 1943-3557

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Soziale Probleme, Sozialdienste, Versicherungen
• Keyword: The Rockefeller Foundation ; The Academic World in the Era of the Great War (2014 : Dublin) ; Erster Weltkrieg ; Frankreich

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2023
• Creator: Rausch, Helke

Further information

• DOI: 10.1017/s1537781418000294
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2415825
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 25.03.2025, 1:42 PM CET