ROCKEFELLER BENEFACTIONS. When John D. Rockefeller died in May, 1937, it was announced that he had given $530,853,632 for various philanthropic and charitable purposes— the largest group of charitable and educational gifts ever made. In this distribution he aimed at stimulating others to give in addition to securing the most effective utilization of the bulk of his own fortune. Nearly four-fifths of his donations went to the four great benevolent corporations which he created : the Rocke feller Foundation, the General Education Board, the Laura Spel man Rockefeller Memorial (united in 1929 with the Rockefeller Foundation. A new fund, the Spelman Fund of New York, was incorporated in 1928, see below), and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Quite as significant as the magnitude of these gifts was the fact that they were free from all restrictions, having been given outright for the purposes of the respective corporations, the trustees of which have power to dispose of the principal as well as the income. As the corporate purposes of these organizations are extremely broad, and the gifts free from restrictions, they will always be adaptable to the changing needs of future generations.
trolled by a self-perpetuating board of unsalaried trustees. From the time of its organization in 1913 up to Dec. 31, 1928, the foundation has disbursed from income and principal slightly over $144,000,000. (G. E. V.) The General Education Board.—To the next largest of his benevolences, Rockefeller had given, up to Dec. 1924, $130,898, 119. Up to July 1928, the board had appropriated for "the pro motion of education in the United States of America, without dis tinction of race, sex or creed," the sum of $176,689,425, of which was from the principal. Most of this had been given toward endowments of colleges, excluding professional depart ments, the rule being to make gifts contingent upon the raising of additional sums by the beneficiaries. During 1924, the board dis continued this activity. The board co-operates with medical schools, colleges and universities with a view to developing teach ing and research in the fundamental sciences, public education, industrial art and negro education. Of sums appropriated by the board, $60,883,362 have been in the field of medicine; $78,631,802 to colleges and universities for general endowment ; for negro edu cation $18,872,442; and for other educational purposes the sum of $18,301,819. (T. AR.) The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial was founded in 1918 by John D. Rockefeller, in memory of his wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller. The memorial was incorporated for the purpose of forwarding human welfare in all parts of the world. The principal of the fund (approximately $73,000,000), as well as the income, may be used by the trustees in their discretion. Aside from a number of miscellaneous appropriations which have been decreasing, the appropriations of the memorial fall into two general categories: (I) the field of child welfare, and (2) the field of the social sciences. In the field of child welfare the memorial has assisted in four general types of activity : scientific research, the preparation of teaching materials, the training of leaders for child study work, and experiments and demonstrations in the practical organization of parent and teacher groups for the study of child life and child welfare. In support of social science the appropria tions of the memorial fall into three groups: (I) appropriations to universities and research institutions; (2) appropriations for fel lowships; (3) appropriations to central bodies such as the Social Science Research Council, the National Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies.