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Philanthropy and the Gospel of Child Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

Steven L. Schlossman
Steven L. Schlossman*
Affiliation:
Rand Corporation
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Extract

Philanthropy in America has sparked numerous innovations in the fields of education, social work, and public health, but rarely has it been instrumental in generating and sustaining a popular social movement. In the Post-World War One decade, however, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial (LSRM) did just that, subtly but aggressively nurturing and coordinating the long-since-forgotten parent education movement. For hundreds of thousands of middle-class Americans, principally young mothers, parent education provided not only a topic of everyday conversation and a structure for continuing education, but a genuine social cause. Philanthropy alone did not create this crusade, of course. Many other factors were involved, some antedating the war, others originating in the twenties and reflecting its distinctive political and cultural spirit. Nonetheless, LSRM's role was central and formative, and merits considerably more attention from historians of education and of philanthropy than it has heretofore received.

Type
Articles
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , Fall 1981 , pp. 275 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by History of Education Society 

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References

Notes

1. Readers may find it helpful to consult my essay, “Before Home Start: Notes Toward a History of Parent Education in America, 1897–1929,” Harvard Educational Review 46 (August 1976): 436–67, for systematic treatment of the ideas and organizations involved in the parent education movement. This essay represents work in progress; documentation has been kept intentionally to a minimum. The research for this essay has been generously supported by a grant from the Endowment, Lilly, Incorporated, and graciously administered by the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College. While I accept full responsibility for errors in fact or interpretation, I want to thank Antler, Joyce, Cott, Nancy, Cremin, Lawrence, Gordon, Lynn, Lagemann, Ellen, and especially Ruby Takavishi for their helpful comments and criticisms.Google Scholar

2. Rockefeller, John D. Jr., “Foreword,” in Fosdick, Raymond B., The Story of the Rockefeller Foundation (New York, 1952) p. vii.Google Scholar

3. Quoted in “Lawrence Frank, Child-Development Expert, Dies,” New York Times, September 24, 1968, p. 44.Google Scholar

4. The following account synthesizes material from diverse published, unpublished, and oral sources, especially from The Milton J. E. Senn Oral History Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, Maryland).Google Scholar

5. Frank, Lawrence K. “A State Budget and Administrative Accounting,” The Economic World 10 (August 14, 1915): 205.Google Scholar

6. Frank, Lawrence K., “Social Legislation and the Police Power,” Case and Comment 22 (1916): 747–49: Frank, Lawrence K., “Economic Crux,” The Dial 67 (September 6, 1919): 180–83; and Frank, Lawrence K., “To Bring Down Prices,” New Republic 20 (September 10, 1919): 175–76.Google Scholar

7. Frank, Lawrence K., “The Object of Education,” The Freeman 4 (March 8, 1922): 610–11.Google Scholar

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9. Russell, James Earl to The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, April 3, 1924, Institute of Child Welfare Research (Laura Spelman Rockefeller), 1923–1925, Institute of Child Welfare Research Files, Teachers College Archives, Teachers College, Columbia University.Google Scholar

10. “Report. Federation for Child Study,” April 18, 1923, Box 28 (Folder 289) Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

11. Burton, S. F., “Report of Federation for Child Study,” May 16, 1923, Box 28 (Folder 289), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

12. Frank, Lawrence K., “Memorandum. Child Study-Parent Training Program,” December 21, 1923, Box 30 (Folder 315), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

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14. Frank, Lawrence K., “Child Study Work in the Women's Colleges,” April, 1927, Box 30 (Folder 315), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

15. Frank, Lawrence K., Memorandum of Interview with Mrs. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, President, American Association of University Women,” October 31 (?), 1923, Box 26 (Folder 268), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

16. Frank, Lawrence K., “Memorandum of Interview with Mrs. Frances Fenton Bernard, Educational Secretary,” December 3, 1923, Box 26 (Folder 268), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

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19. Meloney, Marie M. to Hecht, George J., April 1, 1924, Box 37 (Folder 390), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

20. Frank, Lawrence K., “Training Personnel and Preparing Teaching Material,” Spring, 1924, Box 30 (Folder 315), Series III, Subseries 5 Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

22. Richardson, Willard S. to Ruml, Beardsley, “Memorandum,” July 14, 1924, Box 37 (Folder 390), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar

23. Frank, Lawrence K. “Memorandum of Interview with George J. Hecht,” November 6, 1924, Box 37 (Folder 390), Series III, Subseries 5, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.Google Scholar