How philanthropy has shaped America in the twentieth century
American philanthropy today expands knowledge, champions social
movements, defines active citizenship, influences policymaking, and
addresses humanitarian crises. How did philanthropy become such a
powerful and integral force in American society? Philanthropy in
America is the first book to explore in depth the twentieth-century
growth of this unique phenomenon. Ranging from the influential
large-scale foundations established by tycoons such as John D.
Rockefeller, Sr., and the mass mobilization of small donors by the Red
Cross and March of Dimes, to the recent social advocacy of individuals
like Bill Gates and George Soros, respected historian Olivier Zunz
chronicles the tight connections between private giving and public
affairs, and shows how this union has enlarged democracy and shaped
history.
Zunz looks at the ways in which American philanthropy emerged not as
charity work, but as an open and sometimes controversial means to foster
independent investigation, problem solving, and the greater good. Andrew
Carnegie supported science research and higher education, catapulting
these fields to a prominent position on the world stage. In the 1950s,
Howard Pew deliberately funded the young Billy Graham to counter liberal
philanthropies, prefiguring the culture wars and increased philanthropic
support for religious causes. And in the 1960s, the Ford Foundation
supported civil rights through education, voter registration drives, and
community action programs. Zunz argues that American giving allowed the
country to export its ideals abroad after World War II, and he examines
the federal tax policies that unified the diverse nonprofit sector.
Demonstrating that America has cultivated and relied on philanthropy
more than any other country, Philanthropy in America examines how
giving for the betterment of all became embedded in the fabric of the
nation's civic democracy.
