Philanthropy

===John D. Rockefeller===
[[File:Portrait of J. D. Rockefeller.jpg|thumb|left|170px|[[John D. Rockefeller]] in 1895]]

Other prominent American philanthropists of the early 20th century included [[John D. Rockefeller]] (1839–1937), [[Julius Rosenwald]] (1862–1932)<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|editor-first=Robert T.|editor-last=Grimm|chapter=Julius Rosenwald|title=Notable American Philanthropists: Biographies of Giving and Volunteering|url=https://archive.org/details/notableamericanp0000unse|url-access=registration|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2002|pages=[https://archive.org/details/notableamericanp0000unse/page/277/mode/1up 277]–79|isbn=9781573563406}}
|2={{cite book |first=Peter M. |last=Ascoli |title=Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck and Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South|url=https://archive.org/details/juliusrosenwaldm0000asco|url-access=registration|publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2006|series=Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies|isbn=978-0-253-34741-1 }} }}</ref> and [[Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage]] (1828–1918).<ref>{{cite book |first=Ruth |last=Crocker |title=Mrs. Russell Sage: Women's Activism and Philanthropy in Gilded Age and Progressive Era America |year=2003 }}</ref>

Rockefeller retired from business in the 1890s; he and his son [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] (1874–1960) made large-scale national philanthropy systematic, especially with regard to the study and application of modern medicine, higher education, and scientific research. Of the {{currency|530 million|USD|passthrough=yes}} the elder Rockefeller gave away, {{currency|450 million|USD|passthrough=yes|linked=no}} went to medicine.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Peter J.|last1=Johnson|first2=John Ensor|last2=Harr|title=The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family|url=https://archive.org/details/rockefellercentu00harr|url-access=registration|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|year=1988|isbn=978-0-684-18936-9 }}</ref> Their leading advisor [[Frederick Taylor Gates]] launched several large philanthropic projects staffed by experts who sought to address problems systematically at the roots rather than let the recipients deal only with their immediate concerns.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Dwight|editor-last=Burlingame|title=Philanthropy in America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, vol 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSakKhqTy70C|url-access=limited|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lSakKhqTy70C&pg=PA419 419]|isbn=9781576078600}}</ref>

By 1920, the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] was opening offices in Europe. It launched medical and scientific projects in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere. It supported the health projects of the [[League of Nations]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Weindling|title=Philanthropy and world health: the Rockefeller Foundation and the League of Nations Health Organization|journal=Minerva|volume=35|number=3|year=1997|pages=269–281|doi=10.1023/A:1004242303705 |jstor=41821072|s2cid=140744506 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41821072|url-access=subscription}}</ref> By the 1950s, it was investing heavily in the [[Green Revolution]], especially the work by [[Norman Borlaug]] that enabled India, Mexico, and many poor countries to upgrade their agricultural productivity dramatically.<ref>{{cite book|first=Leon F.|last=Hesser|title=The man who fed the world: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug and his battle to end world hunger: An authorized biography|url=https://archive.org/details/manwhofedworldno0000hess|url-access=registration|publisher=Durban House|isbn=1930754906|year=2006}}</ref>