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(1900 - 1999)

1907 
The first private family foundation, The Russell Sage Foundation, is formed, for "the improvement of social and living conditions in the United states." (Source: Russell Sage Foundation)

1909  
In a small apartment in New York City, Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William and English Walling form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  (Source: NAACP) 

1914 
Cleveland lawyer and banker Frederic H. Goff creates the first community foundation -- The Cleveland Foundation.  Today, there are more 700 community foundations throughout the United States, and similar institutions have been created in Canada, the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.  (Sources: The Cleveland Foundation and The Foundation Center)

1916 
The 1916 Revenue Act establishes the estate tax.

1954 
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the General Electric Company, starts the first matching gifts program to encourage GE employees to support the needs and objectives of higher education.  (Source: GE Foundation)

1966 
Carnegie Corporation of New York underwrites a feasibility study on television programming for preschool children. This leads to a grant that launches Sesame Street, the most widely viewed children's series in the world. (Source: Council on Foundations)  

1970 
The first Earth Day is celebrated, and on the same day, the anti-litter public service announcement "Keep America Beautiful," featuring Native American actor Chief Iron Eyes Cody, is aired.   The PSA won two Clio awards and the campaign was recognized as of the top 100 ad campaign of the 20th Century by Ad Age Magazine.  (Source: Earth Day, and Ad Council)

1981 
The MacArthur Fellows Program awards its first “genius grants”-- unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. This "no strings attached" award is given annually to typically 20 to 40 citizens or residents of the United States, of any age and working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work." (Source: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

1998 
On his 43rd birthday in October, Bill Gates quietly contributes $1 billion to the William H. Gates Foundation. In December, he and his wife Melinda Gates announce a $100 million gift for making vaccines for children more widely available. (Source: The Council on Foundations)

(1600-1699) | (1700-1799) | (1800-1899) | (1900-1999) | (2000 +)