In the latter half of the century began the philanthropic efforts to advance higher education in the United States, the individual donations eventually exceeding in size those made for any other single beneficent purpose. These benefactions included an im mense number of substantial sums to countless institutions, but most conspicuous were endowments of princely magnitude for the more important colleges and universities. Notable among the early benefactors of American education were Peter Cooper, Ezra Cornell, Matthew Vassar and Johns Hopkins. Later Leland Stan-. ford and John D. Rockefeller made munificent gifts for the estab lishment of universities and the spread of higher education.
Following the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, the education of the American negroes in the Southern States became and still remains an especially worthy object of philan thropic endeavour. Prominent among early contributors of funds or of important personal service to the cause of negro education were George Peabody, donor of the Peabody Fund ; John F. Slater, founder of the Slater fund; General 0. 0. Howard, commissioner of the Freedmen's bureau; Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder of Hampton Institute and a leader in negro education; and Booker T. Washington, a conspicuously successful negro educator, who founded Tuskegee Institute.
Another notable expression of educational philanthropy during the latter half of the century was the establishment of free public libraries on an unprecedented scale, especially in the United States. Important among earlier gifts for library foundations were those of John Jacob Astor, James Lenox and Samuel J. Tilden, in New York, and John Crerar, in Chicago. Later came individual gifts for great library buildings, as that of Enoch Pratt to the city of Baltimore and of P. A. B. Widener to Phila delphia, and also gifts for thousands of lesser buildings in smaller cities and towns, for the construction of a large number of which Andrew Carnegie made very numerous donations aggregating more than $6o,000,000.
growth two distinctive features developed. One of these was the assumption by the British, French and other European govern ments of a vast range of social relief which formerly was ad ministered only through private charitable agencies. By parlia mentary enactment in Great Britain in 1908 a system of old age pensions was set up. In 1911 came the National Insurance Act, providing against sickness, invalidity and unemployment. Fur ther, in 1928, by the Widows, Orphans and Old Age Pensions Act, a still larger group previously aided through private charity was brought under the scheme of national social insurance.
The second distinctive feature of this period has been the crea tion of many great philanthropic trusts, especially in the United States. Their underlying constructive purpose is somewhat paral lel to that of the British governmental system of social relief. These trusts seek permanent, substantial and far-reaching results through the use of ample funds, efficient organization and modern methods of administration. In the United States alone, where the establishment of such trusts has become a favourite method of the bestowal of large bequests, the total of such funds runs into the thousand millions of dollars. Many philanthropists disapprove of the efforts made by certain benevolent trusts and foundations to perpetuate themselves by restricting their enterprises and expendi tures to the interest on invested capital and not only leaving the principal untouched but even adding from time to time to it from unused income. In consequence, various trusts, as the Julius Rosenwald Fund, provide definitely for the expenditure of the entire fund capital as well as income within a specified period.
Among other distinctive gains made in the 20th century have been the effective attacks on disease, as yellow fever, typhoid and tuberculosis ; the marked progress in numerous phases of child welfare, and the wide establishment of the juvenile court system in treating youthful delinquents. Important also have been the efforts to ptomote amicable international relations, as reflected in the Rhodes Scholarships, established (1902) by Cecil J. Rhodes, and (1910) the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.