Our archival holdings tell an extensive story of what has come to be called the Green Revolution. Beginning in the 1940s, the Rockefeller Foundation — joined by the Ford Foundation in the 1960s — supported agricultural research and founded institutions to produce high-yield varieties of wheat and rice crops. Many of the Green Revolution methods — including the use of chemical fertilizers and the development of agribusiness — have today come under scrutiny. At midcentury, however, these were viewed as solutions to world hunger. Image: Wheat, Rockefeller Foundation records, RAC #WheatDay #Wheat #GreenRevolution #Agriculture #PhilanthropyHistory #AgriculturalHistory #Farming #FarmingHistory #History #Archives 
Happy Monday! We're getting right into the week — remotely. We are looking forward to in-person collaboration sometime in the future! The two women pictured here are studying at the Business School of Texas Southern University circa 1960. At that time, the Ford Foundation supported Texas Southern and business schools across the United States in a massive effort to overhaul business education. All told, by 1964 Ford would spend over $46 million on the nationwide program — nearly $400 million in today's dollars. The Foundation then went international with its program, funding schools in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Image: Ford Foundation records, RAC. #MondayVibes #Coworkers #Collaboration #1960s #BizSchool #HigherEd #HigherEdHistory #HistoryPic #HBCUPride @texassouthern 
Today begins #NationalParksWeek! We offer this fun and friendly reminder to take advantage of the many natural spaces preserved throughout the US park system. Yosemite's Wawona tree is shown here in 1951, as a Rockefeller family car passes through. In 1928, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had spent $1,750,000 to purchase 15,000 acres of heavily timbered land near Yosemite, to restore the area and add it to the park. Photo: Rockefeller family photographs, RAC. #NationalParksWeek #Parks #Philanthropy #PhilanthropyArchives #PhilanthropyHistory #NationalParks #Conservation #Mountains #Yosemite #Redwoods #JohnMuir @nationalparkservice @yosemitenps 
As the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out continues, we want to thank all of our #HealthHeroes! To the scientists, cleaners, food service providers, doctors, nurses, residents, assistants, and many more workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, we send our profound gratitude. Photo: Peking Union Medical College, c. 1930, China Medical Board, Inc., records, RAC. #Vaccines #EssentialWorkers #PublicHealth #PublicHealthHistory #HistoryPic #Nurses #DoctorLife #NurseLife #PhilanthropyHistory #Laboratory #HistoryofMedicine #HistoryofScience #ApplauseForHeroes 
American President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated #OnThisDay in 1865. This letter dates from that very day, and was part of a publication project bringing together the president's writings. Between 1947 and 1952, the Rockefeller Foundation provided $54,000 to the Abraham Lincoln Association to complete the project. Image: Rockefeller Foundation records, RAC. #OTD #ThisDayInHistory #LincolnAssassination #AbrahamLincoln #USHistory #AmericanHistory #Manuscripts #Archives #Signatures 
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you to all of our #HealthHeroes — to the nurses, doctors, lab scientists, cleaners, food service providers, assistants, lab scientists, and many more workers on the frontlines of this public health crisis, we send our profound gratitude. Photo: Fellowship Program in Academic Medicine for Minority Students, 1991, Commonwealth Fund records, RAC. #EssentialWorkers #PublicHealth #PublicHealthHistory #HistoryPic #Nurses #DoctorLife #NurseLife #PhilanthropyHistory #Laboratory #HistoryofMedicine #HistoryofScience #ApplauseForHeroes