Charity, Philanthropy, and Civility in American History

Bibliographic Data

ID2806375
AuthorsGerald F Vaughn (University of Delaware, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume64
Issue3
Pages963-965
Publication date2005-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9246 • E-ISSN: 1536-7150
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1536-7150.2005.00401.x
OpenAlexW2025733274
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited1

Friedman, Lawrence J., and McGarvie, Mark D., eds. 2003 . Charity, Philanthropy, and Civility in American History . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . 480 pp. ISBN 0-521-81989-x This collection of exceedingly valuable essays, edited by Lawrence J. Friedman and Mark D. McGarvie, comprises a comprehensive historical review of charity, philanthropy, and civility in the United States. With contributions by these editors and 17 other well-qualified scholars, the end product's quality cannot be in doubt. The book opens with an introduction by Friedman titled “Philanthropy in America: Historicism and Its Discontents.” Part I, “Giving and Caring in Early America, 1601–1861,” contains the following chapters: “Giving in America: From Charity to Philanthropy” by Robert A. Gross; “Protestant Missionaries: Pioneers of American Philanthropy” by Amanda Porterfield; “The Origins of Anglo-American Sensibility” by G. J. Barker-Benfield; “The Dartmouth College Case and the Legal Design of Civil Society” by Mark D. McGarvie; “Rethinking Assimilation: American Indians and the Practice of Christianity, 1800–1861” by Stephen Warren; and “Antebellum Reform: Salvation, Self-Control, and Social Transformation” by Wendy Gamber. Part II, “The Nationalization and Internationalization of American Philanthropy, 1861–1930,” contains the following: “Law, Reconstruction, and African American Education in the Post-Emancipation South” by Roy E. Finkenbine; “Women and Political Culture” by Kathleen D. McCarthy; “From Gift to Foundation: The Philanthropic Lives of Mrs. Russell Sage” by Ruth Crocker; “Curing Evils at Their Source: The Arrival of Scientific Giving” by Judith Sealander; and “Missions to the World: Philanthropy Abroad” by Emily S. Rosenberg. Part III, “Philanthropic Reconstructions, 1930–2001,” contains: “Failure and Resilience: Pushing the Limits in Depression and Wartime” by David C. Hammack; “Faith and Good Works: Catholic Giving and Taking” by Mary J. Oates; “In Defense of Diversity: Jewish Thought from Assimilation to Cultural Pluralism” by Stephen J. Whitfield; “Waging the Cold War in the Third World: The Foundations and the Challenges of Development” by Gary R. Hess; “Philanthropy, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Politics of Racial Reform” by Claude A. Clegg III; and “The Welfare State and the Careers of Public and Private Institutions Since 1945” by Peter D. Hall. Last there is an “Epilogue: The European Comparison” by William B. Cohen, which is excellent as far as space permits. The European experience over the past four centuries is too diverse for ready comparison with the American. A separate book, or a series, devoted to the European nations would provide the needed basis for comparison. The book's premise is that American philanthropy has been rooted in various benefactors’ desires to instill their values in groups of our population by donating generous quantities of wealth to benefit those groups. Funding mechanisms, such as foundations, often are set up to be self-perpetuating so that the work of instilling the original values may continue into the indefinite future. Nearly every chapter is a thorough treatment of its subject. Many philanthropists were sincerely motivated toward human betterment, and some individuals became so active on behalf of instilling values that they were known as social reformers. Some attained such prominence that their insights were widely sought, and they lectured and wrote for publication to extend their message. They were aided by academics, clergy, and other supporters who taught and preached a social gospel, which formed an active and important Social Gospel movement. The book could have focused more sharply on the Social Gospel movement. However, not all philanthropy was for the purpose of instilling values leading to human betterment; some philanthropy was self-serving. Thorstein B. Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) describes wealthy people who displayed their benefaction for the social status it brought them. Still, regardless of the motivation, their philanthropy benefited people in need and deserves appreciation. To some extent, it even set a wholesome example. Fred Roy Yoder, who studied under Veblen and was greatly influenced by Veblen's theory of the leisure class, wrote: “The conventions of the leisure class also tend to infiltrate down through the lower classes . . . the social superior is imitated by the social inferior . . . the rich are imitated by the poor” (quoted in Vaughn 2001: 980). A well-done chapter on Veblen's theory of the leisure class would have fit nicely to round out this book

Civility · Emancipation · Political science · Politics · Protestantism · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies

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