The Rockefeller Archive Center
Search the RAC Web Site
Home | FAQs | Links | E-Mail
About Us Grants Collections Publications The Rockefellers Research Search Our Collections
Frequently Asked Questions
Printer-Friendly Version Printer-Friendly Version


Research at the Rockefeller Archive Center Website Issues Rockefeller Philanthropy Foundations
Standard Oil Diego Rivera Mural Rockefeller University Genealogy
Properties Rockefeller Center Papers in Other Repositories Rockefeller in Cleveland
Attica Prison Riot Did You Know?    



RESEARCH AT THE ROCKEFELLER ARCHIVE CENTER

I'd like to conduct research at the Rockefeller Archive Center. What do I need to do?
    Appointments are required. Contact us in writing, via email, fax, or mail with a brief description of your research project, the names of individuals and institutions that are central to the study, the years covered by the study, and any geographic restrictions on the study. A staff member will respond with a description of the scope and content of relevant materials in the collections and to schedule an appointment. The Center's staff can respond most efficiently and effectively to inquiries that are specific. Also see the Grant section for a description of our grant program.
Is the Rockefeller Archive Center open to the public?
    We encourage scholars to do research at the Center, but because of limited space in the reading room, appointments are required. The Archive Center is not generally open to the public outside of scholarly research. Its grounds and facilities are not available for weddings or other such events.
I've set up an appointment to do research at the Archive Center. What do I need to know in advance? I have a minor question that doesn't merit a visit to the Center - can you help me?
    For questions not relating directly to our collections, please review the Frequently Asked Questions, the links section, and the family tree. If these sources do not answer your question, you may contact us by email and we will try to help.



WEBSITE ISSUES

How do I find what I'm looking for on the website?
    There is a navigation bar on every page which breaks the information on our site into main categories and sub-categories. The site index displays every page on the site in an outline form. Use the search engine for a more defined search.
I can't see/download some files on your website, what's wrong?
    Some features on our website require special software which are all available to download for free on the internet. The introductory movie on our homepage requires Flash. To view "Unhooking the Hookworm", you need Quicktime. To read any .pdf documents or forms, you need Adobe Reader.
I'm experiencing problems viewing the website - what should I do?
    If you notice a major problem or error on our website, please contact us.



ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY

What kind of causes have the Rockefellers funded?
    Visitors and researchers at the Rockefeller Archive Center often are surprised to learn of the international scope and the broad range of subjects that have received support from the philanthropy of the Rockefeller family. "Rockefeller philanthropy" is the short-hand term that encompasses both the combined personal charitable gifts of members of the Rockefeller family and the grants awarded by the various philanthropic institutions established by generations of family members. Documents at the Rockefeller Archive Center trace this rich legacy back to 1855, when John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) first went to work in Cleveland, Ohio, and began to donate part of his earnings to the Baptist church he attended. Rockefeller entered the oil business in the 1860s and in 1870 founded the Standard Oil Company, which grew to dominate the oil industry and made Rockefeller and his partners wealthy men. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) joined his father's office in 1897 but soon focused his efforts on philanthropy rather than business and helped his father develop several major institutions in medical science, education, and philanthropy. Together, he and his wife Abby (1874-1948) expanded the Rockefeller philanthropic legacy in new directions, such as art and historic preservation, and passed the family tradition of philanthropic stewardship on to their children - Abby (1903-1976), John 3rd (1906-1978), Nelson (1908-1979), Laurance (1910-2004)), Winthrop (1912-1973), and David (b. 1915), known collectively as the Brothers generation. They, in turn, have passed the legacy on to their children, the Cousins, such that four generations of Rockefeller family members have collaborated to establish major foundations - the Rockefeller Foundation (1913), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (1940) and the Rockefeller Family Fund (1967) - to address the collective concerns of their era, while particular family members also have established their own philanthropic institutions to address issues of concern to them. Select Rockefeller Philanthropies offers a brief introduction to the subject.



ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

What is the Rockefeller University Archives Campus Office and how is it related to the Rockefeller Archive Center?
    The Rockefeller Archive Center maintains an office on the campus of the Rockefeller University which provides services to faculty and staff. It also functions as an archival liaison office between the Archive Center and the University. The vast majority of the records of the University and all the papers of the faculty are not kept on campus but are at the Archive Center in Sleepy Hollow. Researchers interested in using material from the Rockefeller University Archives should plan to come to the Archive Center since our campus office does not have a reading room. Also, non-campus affiliated researchers should direct their Rockefeller University-related research inquiries to the same email address as they would for all our other archival collections.
Why were many of the papers of early members of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research donated to the archives of other institutions?
    In the early years of the Rockefeller Institute, members were encouraged to donate their records to other institutions since the Institute did not have an archives. Some scientists chose archives based on their education or on other professional affiliations. The University Archives was first created as a function of the University library during the 1960s. The Rockefeller University became one of the founding institutions of the Rockefeller Archive Center, which opened in 1975. The researcher should be reminded that although the personal papers of these early scientists may be elsewhere, the University Archives does have much of the administrative records of these individuals as well as sets of their annual scientific reports. In some cases, there are extensive collections of reprints, photographs, and biographical material.
Which members of the RIMR/faculty at RU had some of their personal papers deposited at the American Philosophical Society (APS)
    Harold Lindsay Amoss
    Max Bergmann
    Rufus Cole
    Simon Flexner
    Karl Landsteiner
    James B. Murphy
    Peter Olitzsky
    Eugene Opie
    Winthrop Osterhout
    Thomas Rivers
    Oswald Robertson
    Peyton Rous
    Florence Sabin
    Leslie Webster



WHERE TO FIND PAPERS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES

Where are the personal papers of Rockefeller University-related personnel? Where are the papers of Rockefeller Family-related personnel and associates? Where are the papers of Rockefeller Foundation-related papers in other repositories?


FOUNDATIONS

Where can I find the records of other foundations? What should I keep and what should I throw out when saving Foundation papers?
    Documenting Institutional History
    The fundamental records that should be kept to document institutional history are: correspondence; minutes; grant files; memoranda; charts/diagrams/plans; financial records; photographs.

    Note: It is important to transfer documents to the archives in their original folders, binders or containers, so that the significance or organization of the records is clear.

    Handwritten Documents
    Normally, few handwritten documents are kept, but some may document crucial steps in institutional decision making or activity. When considering whether to keep handwritten documents, it is useful to distinguish between preliminary or fragmentary records (not to be kept) and those that document a unique event. Examples of handwritten records that could be kept are: notes of minutes of an informal meeting; notes of a telephone conversation; correspondence, including faxes.

    Publications
    Publications (books; articles; news clippings) should be retained in files when they relate directly to the subject matter of the files. For example: publications based on institutional support; programs of conferences or other events based on institutional support; articles and essays describing the institution's programs or activities .

    Note: At the Rockefeller Archive Center book-length publications will be separated from the archives and cataloged as part of the library collection.

    Visual Materials
    Visual materials directly related to the subject matter of the files are valuable and should be retained. Keep photographs, films, and videos in all formats.

    Note: At the Rockefeller Archive Center visual materials will be removed from the document files and arranged separately.

    Computer Records
    Computer records may be retained and transferred to the Archive Center on tape for storage. However, because of the 20-year average lifetime of magnetic tape, that should be done only with information that is too bulky or too complex to store in other formats. Computer disks of all sorts should not be transferred because of their very short lifetime. The durability and accessibility of all computer-generated records are uncertain because of the lack of archival experience with such records, and because of rapid changes in computer technology. The guideline to follow if your think that certain electronic-based information, including email, should be retained permanently is: IF IN DOUBT, PRINT IT OUT.

    Do Not Keep
    Under usual circumstances do not keep the following: multiple copies of documents unless they have unique handwritten commentary; fax paper or other thermal sensitive paper (photocopy text onto bond paper); memorabilia, such as framed certificates, plaques, and medals.

    A Final Note
    If you are not sure whether an item is appropriate for the archives, keep it, because a final decision whether to keep or discard it will be made at the time of archival processing. A particular document may take on a greater or lesser significance as it is viewed in the context of other records in the archives.



GENEALOGY

Can you provide me with a family tree of the descendants of John D. Rockefeller?
    As a matter of policy, the Rockefeller Archive Center does not provide information about, or access to unpublished materials about, living members of the Rockefeller family. A number of books published in recent years, including Ron Chernow's biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Titan (1998), and Harr and Johnson's The Rockefeller Century (1988), contain genealogical charts for the Rockefeller family. Perhaps the most extensive is in The Rockefeller Family Home, Kykuit (1998), with photographs by Mary Louise Pierson and text by Ann Rockefeller Roberts. Henry Rockefeller's Rockefeller Genealogy has been reprinted and is available for purchase from the Higginson Book Company. The Higginson Book Company website is at http://www.higginsonbooks.com/.

    I'm trying to confirm if a relative of mine worked for the Rockefellers. Can the Archive Center help?

    The Archive Center often receives genealogical inquiries from people who have heard that a family member worked for the Rockefellers. These are difficult to trace, and very rarely are we able to confirm the story that is being conveyed to us. The difficulty lies both in the nature of the records and in the understandably unspecific nature of many of the requests: there is no good single body of material about Rockefeller family employees; the material that exists is not complete; and it is often unclear in which of the numerous Rockefeller households the person was supposed to have worked and when. When sufficient information is provided, the Archive Center's staff will check existing payroll records and various indexes to the extent possible. However, the results of such searches often are unsatisfying. We are well aware that even when we cannot confirm employment, we can never rule out the possibility that someone worked for the Rockefellers.
I'm researching my family tree. Can the Archive Center help?
    The Rockefeller Archive Center focuses on the family of John D. Rockefeller, (1839-1937), founder of the Standard Oil Company and of several philanthropic boards. The collections at the Archive Center do not have much information about the Rockefeller family's genealogy beyond what is available in a series of publications, now out of print, from the Rockefeller Family Association, which, as far as we know, no longer exists. The publications include three volumes of Transactions of the Rockefeller Family Association, with Genealogy, Volume I, 1905-1909; Volume 2, 1910-1915; Volume 3, 1919-1925; and Volume IV, a compilation of the Rockefeller Genealogy, with no publication date. There is also a slim volume entitled R.F.A News, which is a collection of newsletters issued by the Association, 1927-1937. We do not have copies of these available for purchase, and the volumes in our library are too fragile for extensive photocopying. However, these volumes have been reprinted and are available for purchase from the Higginson Book Company. The Higginson Book Company website is at http://www.higginsonbooks.com/.

    Note: As a matter of policy, the Rockefeller Archive Center does not provide information about living members of the Rockefeller Family.



THE ROCKEFELLERS IN CLEVELAND

What is the Rockefeller connection with Cleveland, Ohio?
    John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) was a resident of the Cleveland, Ohio, area for about thirty years. He moved to the area with his parents in 1853, attended school in Cleveland and got his first job there in 1855. He became a successful businessman in Cleveland and entered the oil business there, and Cleveland was home to the Standard Oil Company from its creation by Rockefeller in 1870 until it and Rockefeller moved to New York City in the early 1880s. It was in Cleveland that Rockefeller became one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. The Cleveland area also was the beneficiary of Rockefeller's philanthropy, beginning with his membership in and donations through the Erie Street Baptist Church as early as 1855.

    About the only structure still standing in Cleveland with an association to Rockefeller is the Rockefeller Building at the corner of Superior and West 6th Street. Rockefeller also donated a lot of park land to the City of Cleveland -- Rockefeller Park -- and his former estate of Forest Hill became the site of Forest Hill Park on the border of Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland, as well as a housing development planned by his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1925.

    More information on Rockefeller's impact on Cleveland may be found in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The numerous biographies of John D. Rockefeller discuss his Cleveland years in various depths, and one book, Grace Goulder's John D. Rockefeller: The Cleveland Years (Cleveland: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1972), focuses on Cleveland. In 2000 Jane Hirz, a documentary film producer in Cleveland, visited the Rockefeller Archive Center to produce a video, "Rockefeller in Cleveland," for the local public television station, WVIZ, that was broadcast that fall in conjunction with the multi-part series on the Rockefeller Family that was part of "The American Experience" on PBS.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center holds a great deal of material on Rockefeller in Cleveland in terms of his ledgers and account books, correspondence, and photographs. The description of the John D. Rockefeller Sr. Papers outlines this material and includes some interesting links, one of which is a scanned image of one of the Charities Index cards on which Rockefeller recorded his charitable donations to the Cleveland Day Nursery and Kindergarten Association. A few of the Archive Center's online publications discuss Rockefeller in Cleveland. See especially the 1999 Newsletter, pp. 3-5. which reproduces one of his ledger pages and includes a photo of him from the 1860s; and the 2000 issue of Research Reports from the Rockefeller Archive Center, pp. 3-6, for an article on Rockefeller and civic affairs in Cleveland, and another photo of Rockefeller with family and friends at Forest Hill ca. 1881. In addition to these online materials, Ken Rose's essay, "Why a University for Chicago and Not Cleveland? Religion and John D. Rockefeller's Early Philanthropy, 1855-1900," deals with Rockefeller's philanthropy in Cleveland; it also is available from the Archive Center's website.

    In May 1987, Joseph W. Ernst, Rockefeller Family Archivist and founding director of the Rockefeller Archive Center, calculated that John D. Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. together had given more than $5,520,000.00 to organizations in Cleveland.

    John D. Rockefeller's contributions between 1855 and 1934 went to 178 different institutions and totaled $3,369,650. Nine institutions received 88% of these funds: INSTITUTIONS GIFTS 1855-1934 Cleveland Parks $865,038.00 Euclid Avenue Baptist Church $727,754.00 Alta Social Settlement $308,429.00 Western Reserve University $262,500.00 YMCA $153,521.00 Case School of Applied Science $200,000.00 YWCA $153,521.00 Baptist City Mission $115,407.00 East End Baptist Church $112,262.00

    Ernst also reported that John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave gifts of $100,000 or more to four Cleveland insitutions: Forest Hill Park to East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights ($1,452,000); the Cleveland Orchestra ($250,000); the Cleveland Baptist Association ($131,000); and the Phyllis Wheatley Association ($101,000). He made large gifts to the Alta Social Settlement ($99,474); the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church ($78,1183); the Cleveland Community Fund ($30,000), and the Baptist Home of Northern Ohio ($9,131). Source: Memo, Joe Ernst to George Taylor, May 19, 1987, Administrative Files of the Rockefeller Archive Center.



STANDARD OIL

What companies were created by the breakup of the Standard Oil trust in 1911?
    When the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that the Standard Oil trust be dissolved, the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) was reorganized into thirty-four new companies. As Rockefeller biographer Ron Chernow has pointed out, several of these companies enjoyed enormous success after 1911, "controlling a significant fraction of both the American and world oil industry. Rockefeller's stepchildren would be everywhere: Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon), Standard Oil of New York (Mobil), Standard Oil of Indiana (Amoco), Standard Oil of California (Chevron), Atlantic Refining (ARCO and eventually Sun). Continental Oil (Conoco), today a unit of DuPont, and Chesebrough-Ponds, which had begun by processing petroleum jelly. Three offspring-Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron - would belong to the Seven Sisters group that would dominate the world oil industry in the twentieth century; a fourth sister, British Petroleum, later took over Standard Oil of Ohio, then known as Sohio." (Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1998), pp. 558-559)

    The 34 companies to emerge from the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust were:

    Anglo-American Oil Company, Limited
    Atlantic Refining Company - later Atlantic Richfield, then ARCO, and then Sun
    Borne, Scrymser Company
    Buckeye Pipeline Company
    Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, Consolidated - later Chesebrough-Ponds
    Colonial Oil Company
    Continental Oil Company - later Conoco
    Crescent Pipe Line Company
    Cumberland Pipe Line Company, Inc.
    Eureka Pipe Line Company
    Galena-Signal Oil Company
    Indiana Pipe Line Company
    National Transit Company
    New York Transit Company
    Northern Pipe Line Company
    Ohio Oil Company - later Marathon
    Prairie Oil and Gas Company
    Solar Refining Company
    Southern Pipe Line Company
    South Penn Oil Company
    South-West Pennsylvania Pipe Lines
    Standard Oil Company (California) -- later Chevron
    Standard Oil Company (Indiana) - later Amoco
    Standard Oil Company (Kansas)
    Standard Oil Company (Kentucky)
    Standard Oil Company (Nebraska)
    Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) - later Esso and then Exxon
    Standard Oil Company of New York -- Socony, then Socony-Vacuum, later Mobil
    Standard Oil Company (Ohio) - later Sohio and the merged with BP
    Swan & Finch Company
    Union Tank Line Company
    Vacuum Oil Company - later merged to form Socony-Vacuum, later Mobil
    Washington Oil Company
    Waters-Pierce Oil Company

    [List and genealogy derived from George Sweet Gibb and Evelyn H. Knowlton, History of Standard Oil (New Jersey): The Resurgent Years, 1911-1927 (1956), Table 1: Companies Disaffiliated from Jersey Standard in 1911; Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (1991); and Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1998)]

    A Guide to the ExxonMobil Historical Collection, 1790-2004



ROCKEFELLER PROPERTIES

What can you tell me about the Rockefeller family home Kykuit? Where can I find information about tours?
    Historic Hudson Valley the non-profit educational organization commissioned by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to preserve historic sites in the Hudson Valley, runs Kykuit. Their website offers vast information about Kykuit and other historic sites, and information about tours.
What happened to the family home Rockwood Hall?
    Rockwood Hall was the home of William Rockefeller (1841-1922), brother of John D. Rockefeller and a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company.

    In 1886, William Rockefeller bought the 200-acre estate and castle, Rockwood, from the heirs of William Henry Aspinwall. Aspinwall was a wealthy New York City resident with interests in merchant banking, a New York-California steamship company and railroads.

    William Rockefeller intended Rockwood Hall, as he called the property, to be his summer home. He increased the size of the estate to more than 1,000 acres and initiated an extensive building program. Rockefeller imported stone masons from Scotland, master wood carvers from Switzerland, gardeners from England, horticulturists from Japan and employed the best American artists and craftsman. Accounts differ as to whether he demolished Edwin Bartlett's original castle and then built another on the same site, or if he undertook extensive renovations to Bartlett's structure. In any event, at least one observer at the time labeled it "the most magnificent residence on the Hudson."

    Among the structures built were a three-story coach stable, a farm barn, a hennery, 17 greenhouses and a steel bridge spanning the New York Central Railroad tracks from the estate to a two-story boat house on the Hudson River. A siding was added to the New York Central tracks, where Rockefeller kept his private railroad car.

    William Rockefeller lived at Rockwood Hall until his death on June 24, 1922, at the age of 81. His heirs decided to sell the property and engaged a real estate agent, who produced a sales booklet, "Rockwood Hall: the Country Estate of the Late William Rockefeller." When an individual buyer could not be found, a group of individuals formed Rockwood Hall, Inc., purchased the estate, and converted it into an exclusive country club. They added an 18-hole golf course, swimming pool and other recreational facilities. Their venture was unsuccessful, however, and in 1936 Rockwood Hall, Inc. declared bankruptcy.

    On December 10, 1937, the bankruptcy court, by referee's deed, sold the land and buildings owned by Rockwood Hall, Inc. to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He then leased the mansion and grounds to the newly-chartered Washington Irving Country Club, which was also short-lived. In the late 1930s the coach house and stable were remodeled and some summer theater productions were held, but these ceased after 1939.

    John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had no real use for Rockwood Hall and, in late 1941 and early 1942, had the buildings razed. On April 8, 1946 he deeded the Rockwood Hall property to his son, Laurance S. Rockefeller. In 1970 he sold 80 acres to the International Business Machine Corporation (IBM) for its world trade center. Beginning in the early 1970s, Laurance Rockefeller leased the property to the State of New York as a public park for one dollar a year, and underwrote the maintenance costs. In 1999 he donated the property to the State of New York as part of Rockefeller State Preserve.

    In 2003, visible remnants of the estate buildings included the foundations of the main house and one gate house along Route 9.
What has become of other Rockefeller properties?
    Forest Hill is a unique community spanning Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland, Ohio, on property that was John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s boyhood home.

    Euclid Golf Allotment is a housing development on land once owned by John D. Rockefeller.



ATTICA PRISON RIOT

What papers do you hold relating to the Attica prison riot in 1971?
    The collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center have very little primary material on the Attica Prison riot of 1971. Due to the many lawsuits arising from the events of September 1971, the New York state attorney general took possession of much of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller's documentation on the matter, which was then never returned to be included in the Rockefeller family archives.

    The Nelson A. Rockefeller Papers at the Rockefeller Archive Center contain such items as the Governor's press releases throughout the crisis, speeches he made during that time period, state corrections monthly or quarterly departmental reports following the riot, and the complete proceedings of the U.S. House and Senate confirmation hearings on Rockefeller's nomination for Vice President in 1974. Attica is one of the many subjects about which Rockefeller was questioned during those lengthy hearings. Additionally, the Archive Center's non-circulating library has The Official Report of the New York State Special Commission on Attica, another book on the topic written by then Commissioner of Corrections Russell G. Oswald (Attica, My Story, 1972), and New York Times columnist Tom Wicker's account of the riot (A Time to Die, 1980).



DIEGO RIVERA MURAL

What can you tell me about the Diego Rivera mural in the RCA Building that was destroyed?
    In the fall of 1932, the Mexican artist Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint a mural on a wall in the RCA Building, the main building of the new Rockefeller Center being built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. His wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art, was a major supporter of Rivera's work, and their son, Nelson A. Rockefeller, promoted the idea of including Rivera among the artists asked to create works for the new buildings. Rivera was to be paid $21,000 to create a mural on the theme of "Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future."

    According to Cary Reich's Worlds to Conquer: The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1908-1958 (1996), Rivera provided the building managers and architects with "a vague sketch . . . [and] a lengthy verbal description of what he intended." Despite the fact that "the description was rife with socialist imagery," Rivera's plans were approved (pp. 106-107). Rivera began work on the fresco in March 1933 and within a matter of days was showing completed sections to visitors, including Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Nelson Rockefeller, both of whom were enthusiastic about the work.

    Rivera's recent work for the Institute of Art in Detroit had created some controversy, and his new work at Rockefeller Center soon caught the attention of the press. While the New York World -Telegram chided the Rockefellers for funding Rivera's depictions of "Communist activity," Reich notes that "various Communist Party functionaries derided Rivera for not going far enough with the RCA Building mural" (Reich p. 108). This criticism prompted Rivera "to up the ante," in Reich's words, and he decided to include an image of Lenin in the mural. In the new design "a soldier, a worker, and a Negro farmer would be shown holding hands with the Soviet leader," Reich reports (p. 108).

    The RCA Building opened to the public on April 30, 1933, with the image of Lenin in the mural. Nelson A. Rockefeller soon sent Rivera a letter to protest Lenin's inclusion and demanding that the image be replaced. "It seems to me," he wrote, "that [Lenin's] portrait appearing in this mural might very seriously offend a great many people. . . . As much as I dislike to do so, I am afraid we must ask you to substitute the face of some unknown man where Lenin's face now appears." (Quoted in Reich, p. 108) Rivera argued that he had included Lenin in the original design for the mural, although Reich notes that "in fact, it was nowhere indicated in the sketch, or in Rivera's verbal plan" (p. 109). Rivera refused to remove the image of Lenin, but, as a compromise, offered to add a portrait of Lincoln.

    "Rather than mutilate the conception" of the mural, Rivera wrote, "I should prefer the physical destruction of the conception in its entirety." (Quoted in Reich, p. 109) Whether he meant it or not, Rivera got his wish. On May 9, 1933, Rivera was called down from the scaffolding by the building's managing agent, Hugh Robertson, paid in full for his work, and the mural was covered with canvas. The controversy over the mural was portrayed in the press as a battle over free speech and artistic expression between Rivera and Nelson A. Rockefeller. For the rest of 1933 the question of what to do with the mural nagged at Rockefeller and the building's managers and architects. Rockefeller suggested his own compromise: donating the mural to the Museum of Modern Art. For whatever reason, however, this did not happen, and the fresco was destroyed in February 1934.

    (See Cary Reich, Worlds to Conquer: The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1908-1958 (New York: Doubleday, 1996), pp. 105 -111.)

    Documentation of this incident is located at the Rockefeller Archive Center in the Rockefeller Family Archives, Record Group 2 Office of the Messrs Rockefeller, Business Interests series, box 94, folder 706 and additional material in box 93, folder 704. This material includes a brief series of letters between Nelson A. Rockefeller and Diego Rivera, with some correspondence to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Also included are numerous letters from people and organizations in support of Rockefeller's handling of the disagreement over, and the removal and destruction of, the mural. The files also include a fairly extensive set of copies of editorial columns from U.S. newspapers commenting on the dispute and its conclusion.

    See PBS's "American Experience: the Rockefellers" for Diego Rivera's side of the story.



ROCKEFELLER CENTER

What does the inscription under the statue at Rockefeller Center say?
    On July 8, 1941, in a radio broadcast appeal on behalf of the USO and the National War Fund, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., gave a statement of principles that was widely reprinted under the title, "I Believe". In 1962 these words were included in a commemorative marble tablet beneath Paul Manship's Prometheus, where they continue to inspire readers.
Where do the Christmas trees at Rockefeller Center come from?


DID YOU KNOW?
    More than 3,500 scholars from around the world have conducted research at the Rockefeller Archive Center.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center contains the collections of forty-two scientific, cultural, educational and philanthropic organizations.

    Most of the Rockefeller Archive Center publications (including the Newsletter, Research Reports and Bibliography of Scholarship) are available online.

    More than 1,400 publications have been written based on research done at the Rockefeller Archive Center: 442 books, 705 articles and 288 dissertations.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center is located only 25 miles north of mid-Manhattan.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center grants-in-aid are travel grants which provide assistance to do archival research in the Center's collections.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center holds over 70 million pages of documents.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center is located in Hillcrest, a home built in the early 1960s for Martha Baird Rockefeller (2nd wife and widow of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.).

    Among the unique items at the Rockefeller Archive Center is a piece of cake from the wedding of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller on October 9, 1901.

    The Rockefeller Archive Center has one of the premier collections of photographs of outhouses and designs for sanitary privies.

    Three Rockefellers have been governors of a state: Brothers Nelson (New York, 1959-1973) and Winthrop (Arkansas, 1967-1971) and their nephew Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia, 1977-1984). Jay was elected as a U.S. senator from West Virginia in 1984.

    In a little more than a century (1855-1960), the charitable and philanthropic giving of John D. Rockefeller and his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. combined, totaled more than a billion dollars.

    Four generations of Rockefellers have collaborated to establish new foundations to respond to the unique challenges of their times: The Rockefeller Foundation (1913), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (1940), and the Rockefeller Family Fund (1967).

    Members of the Rockefeller family played significant roles in development of a number of New York City landmarks, including the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Rockefeller University, Lincoln Center, and the World Trade Center.

    John D. Rockefeller Sr. began giving to charity regularly at age 16 in November 1855 when he received the wages from his first job. His first recorded donation in Ledger A was 15 cents to a "Missionary Cause."

    John D. Rockefeller Sr. paid $118 for a diamond engagement ring on April 8, 1864. After he and his bride, Laura Spelman, were married on September 8, 1864, he paid $490 for their "Wedding Tour" to Niagara Falls and Montreal.

    By 1903 John D. Rockefeller Sr. had made donations to at least 800 different institutions and to more than 670 individuals.

    John D. Rockefeller Sr. made it possible for what is now Spelman College to remain a school for African-American women by contributing the money to buy the land for the school in 1884.

    John D. Rockefeller Sr. was the major financial supporter of the University of Chicago.

    Stephen Harkness, whose fortune created the Commonwealth Fund, and John D. Rockefeller were partners in Standard Oil of Ohio.

    John D. Rockefeller, Jr. bought and donated the property for the United Nations complex in New York City.

    Ten-year-old John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s Christmas presents in 1884 were "several books, letter paper, sealing wax, purse, and a beautiful large picture of a little boy with golden hair." He celebrated the day by going sleighing with his sister and that evening with the family enjoyed "a delightful entertainment with a Magic Lantern."

    John D. Rockefeller, Jr. funded the restoration and development of Colonial Williamsburg beginning in 1926.

    John D. Rockefeller, Jr., contributed $44.4 million to parks and conservation efforts, including the development of Acadia National Park in Maine and the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

    Rockefeller Center was planned and financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. only after the Metropolitan Opera backed out of an earlier plan to build a cultural center on the same property.

    Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was a founder of the Museum of Modern Art and the donor of the core collection of folk art to a museum in Colonial Williamsburg that bears her name.

    Nelson A. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, art collector, and politician, suffered from dyslexia.

    Nelson A. Rockefeller established two organizations in 1946-1947 to improve living conditions in Latin America: the American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA), a philanthropy, and the International Basic Economy Corporation (IBEC), a for-profit corporation.

    Nelson A. Rockefeller established the Museum of Primitive Art in 1957 but later donated its collections to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    When Nelson A. Rockefeller was nominated as vice president of the U.S. by President Gerald Ford and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 1974, it marked the first time in U.S. history that neither the sitting president nor vice president had been elected to national office.

    John D. Rockefeller 3rd was a major figure in the development of Lincoln Center.

    John D. Rockefeller 3rd promoted better understanding between the peoples of the U.S. and Asia. He helped to revitalize the Japan Society and in 1956 organized the Asia Society. He also founded the Agricultural Development Council in 1953 to provide assistance to Asian farmers

    John D. Rockefeller 3rd established the Population Council in 1952 and played a leading role in efforts to bring the problem of overpopulation to global attention.

    Abby Rockefeller Mauze's Greenacre Park in midtown Manhattan (51st Street between Second and Third avenues) opened for the people of New York City on October 14, 1971, in the "hope that they will find here some moments of serenity in this busy world."

    The Rockefeller University, established in 1901 as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, was the first institution in the United States devoted solely to biomedical research - to understanding the underlying causes of disease.

    Simon Flexner, the first director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now The Rockefeller University), developed the first successful treatment for cerebrospinal meningitis ca. 1906.

    In 1911, Peyton Rous, a scientist at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now the Rockefeller University), discovered that a virus can cause cancer. His discovery earned him the Nobel prize in 1966.

    Rene Dubos, a Rockefeller University scientist, originated the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally."

    Louise Pearce, a scientist at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now The Rockefeller University), developed Tryparsamide, a drug that proved successful in treating African sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis).

    Arrowsmith (1925), the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Sinclair Lewis, took as models for its characters and institutional setting the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and its scientists.

    23 scientists associated with The Rockefeller University have received Nobel prizes, including three since 1999: Roderick MacKinnon in 2003, Paul Greengard in 2000, and Günter Blobel in 1999.

    The Rockefeller Foundation founded the Peking Union Medical College (opened in 1917, formally dedicated in 1921) to promote modern Western medicine in China.

    In 1933 the Rockefeller Foundation began a program to help deposed scholars who sought refuge outside of Nazi Germany because of their religion or political beliefs. Between 1933 and 1945 the program aided 303 scholars, including some from other fascist countries, at a cost of $1.4 million. Many of these refugee scholars relocated to universities in the U.S.

    The Rockefeller Foundation played a significant role in the Green Revolution, an effort to modernize agriculture in developing countries. Beginning in 1943 with field operations in Mexico, the program was extended in the 1950s to Latin America, India, the Philippines, and other countries. In 1970 RF field scientist Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for his fundamental contributions to the Green Revolution.

    Warren Weaver (1894-1978), director of the Rockefeller Foundation Natural Sciences Division, 1932-1955, and vice president, 1955-1959, was an extremely influential figure in the development of American science in the 20th century. He is credited with coining the term "molecular biology."

    In its first 50 years (1940-1990), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund made grants totaling nearly $384 million to 1,342 institutions in 37 countries.

    When Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay was killed in an airplane crash in 1957, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund established an awards program in his name. The awards came to be seen as "the Nobel Prizes of Asia" and they continue to be given annually in the fields of government service, public service, community leadership, international understanding, and journalism, literature, and creative communication arts.

    In 1953 one educator described the General Education Board (active 1902-1964) as the "Santa Claus of the South."

    The General Education Board, established in 1902, worked to improve public education for all races in each of the Southern states, but it took a special interest in African American education and worked within the limits imposed by racial segregation in the South to improve educational conditions and opportunities. By 1964 the GEB had given more than $62 million toward African-American education.

    Albert Einstein misplaced a $250 check from the Rockefeller-funded International Education Board in February 1924. Einstein thought he had placed the check in a book in the library at his home in Berlin, but it was never found. A replacement check was issued.

    Mining company executive John Markle (1858-1933) established the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation in 1927 "to promote the general good of mankind." The foundation focused on medical research and medical training (1936-1969) before changing the focus of its program to mass communications.

    The Markle Foundation had a major role in the founding of the Children's Television Workshop, which produced Sesame Street, Electric Company and other educational television programs.

    The Commonwealth Fund financed the construction of thirteen rural Hospitals in the United States.

    The Russell Sage Foundation supported the planning and construction of Forest Hills, Queens, the first "Garden City" in America.

    In 1907 Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage established the Russell Sage Foundation, the first general-purpose charitable foundation in the United States.

    Rockefeller philanthropy helped to create a wide variety of organizations in the 20th Century, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg, Museum of Modern Art, Acadia National Park, Japan Society and The Population Council, Inc., all of which are documented at the Rockefeller Archive Center.

Did you know...

In 1907 Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage established the Russell Sage Foundation, the first general-purpose charitable foundation in the United States.

Copyright © The Rockefeller Archive Center. All rights reserved.
Site Index