The Rockefeller Foundation and the Modern Australian University, 1926-1942

Jan 01, 2011 | by
  • Description

In 2011 I received a Rockefeller Grant-in-Aid for my project which enabled me to conduct a whirlwind trip to the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) to collect as much material as I could on the relationship between the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) and Australian universities in the interwar period. After a couple of days of detailed reading and taking notes from a variety of sources, it soon became abundantly clear that the RAC holdings on this topic were so rich that even by limiting the topic I would not get through the material without the generous offer made to photocopy significant items. Ten days later I headed back to my university in Australia, filled with ideas about this topic and looking forward to reading the material in an even more contemplative manner. The large bundle of photocopied material joined me about a month later, and in the course of wrapping up marking and other duties for the year, I have yet to reflect fully on the implications of what I found. In the meantime however, I am offering an introductory report on some of my preliminary thoughts.