This book examines the sociocultural dynamics behind food – dynamics such as access to foods at the domestic level, the cultural influences training tastes, or the micro-politics that govern its distribution – through the lenses of three communities: the Oglala, a Southern community, and an Italian-American community. Contributors: Mary Douglas, William K. Powers, Marla M.N. Powers, Tony Larry Whitehead, Judith G. Goode, Karen Curtis, Janet Theophano, and Jonathan Gross.

Mary Douglas was Avalon Foundation chair in the humanities at Northwestern University.

This book, published in 1956, is a comprehensive report of a study that was made of the needs of the elderly through a survey conducted at the Kips Bay-Yorkville Health Center in New York City. An essential need for old people, it argues, is an advisory and consulting service that would be an integral part of the official community health and welfare structure.

Bernard Kutner, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University

David Fanshel, Family and Children’s Service, Pittsburgh

Alice M. Togo, Cornell University Medical College

Thomas S. Langner, Cornell University Medical College

This book, published in 1956, is a comprehensive report of a study that was made of the needs of the elderly through a survey conducted at the Kips Bay-Yorkville Health Center in New York City. An essential need for old people, it argues, is an advisory and consulting service that would be an integral part of the official community health and welfare structure.

Bernard Kutner, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University

David Fanshel, Family and Children’s Service, Pittsburgh

Alice M. Togo, Cornell University Medical College

Thomas S. Langner, Cornell University Medical College

Material for this study was collected during the summer and early autumn of 1931, in response to a request from the President’s Organization on Unemployment Relief. Thirty communities were visited, and the reports on work relief carried out in 26 of them, chiefly situated in the middle, eastern, and southern states, can be found in Part II.

Joanna C. Colcord was director of the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation. Assisted by William C. Koplovitz and Russell H. Kurtz.

The Mid-Century Committee on Outcomes in Elementary Education was assembled to describe for educations, test-makers, and interested citizens the measurable goals of instruction in American elementary schools. This 1953 report presents the specific objectives of elementary education as outlined by a distinguished group of consultants and evaluated by carefully selected critics.

Nolan C. Kearney was assistant superintendent for curriculum and research in the public schools of St. Paul, Minnesota.

This book, published in 1959, examines systematic research in the field of parent education – the efforts, particularly between 1934 and 1959, designed to develop in parents a greater competence in the task of rearing their children – and describes the contributions of the social sciences to parent education theory and practice. It aims to provide a solid frame of reference against which the soundness of parent education efforts and concepts can be measured. It seeks to explore and clarify the contributions which social science theory and research have made and potentially could make to the successful planning of educational efforts directed to parents.

Orville G. Brim, Jr., was a sociologist at the Russell Sage Foundation. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and was the author of Sociology and the Field of Education.

Cultural Difference and Medical Care, published in 1954, explores the difficulties inherent to U.S. medical practitioners in supplying health services and medical care to Spanish-speaking people living in the American Southwest. While its examples are drawn from this culturally distinct population, its principles apply as well to any cultural or subcultural group in any geographic setting. 

Lyle Saunders was associate professor of preventive medicine and public health (sociology), University of Colorado, School of Medicine.

The study reported in this 1960 book examined the process of foster home placement and the impact of this process on the foster child. It also aimed to show some of the limits and potentialities of research in an actual practicing agency. The study grew out of a Russell Sage Foundation residency held by the author during 1954–1955 at the Chicago Child Care Society.

Eugene A. Weinstein was professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University.

Published in 1962, Cottage Six documents the implementation of more effective use of the social sciences in the therapeutic program of an institution for children, particularly its Cottage 6, inhabited by adolescent boys. It analyzes the problems that confront any institution that wishes to develop an integrated clinical and therapeutic community program.

Howard W. Polsky was professor at the New York School of Social Work, Columbia University.

This 1952 volume documents philanthropic contributions and policies of corporations. Part I presents a factual picture of corporate giving, including its historical development as well as its scope and problems. Part II discusses the beneficiaries of corporate giving, with suggestions on making wise choices, and separate sections on the more important agencies or groups of agencies, including institutions of higher education. Part III deals with legal and tax factors.

F. Emerson Andrews was director of publications at the Russell Sage Foundation.