Introduction

Rockefeller philanthropy began supporting social scientists with a few small-scale efforts. These efforts were overseen not so much by Rockefeller, but by Rockefeller, Jr, and they typically began with some careful sharing of ideas about whether and how to financially support social scientists. The main experiments were the Bureau of Social Hygiene (1913), the Rockefeller Foundation's Division of Industrial Relations (1914) and an Institute of Economics (1922). Various additional thoughts and discussions were woven through this exciting period of change within Rockefeller philanthropy.

Ludlow and William Lyon Mackenzie King

The tragedy at Ludlow in April 1914 was simply awful. In the months that followed, the Rockefeller New York office made real efforts to provide for injured employees and their families. They asked for assistance from neutral mediators, and they requested that a special adjudication board be appointed by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.

At the same time, however, the Rockefeller Foundation needed to keep moving ahead. The Foundation continued to discuss the idea to establish some kind of an institute or division that could focus on social science. Perhaps an initial project for the division could be to develop a comprehensive study of the causes of industrial conflict.