Author: O'Connell, Brian

Publication Year: 1982

Media Type: Book

Summary:

Abstract:

Foreword by John W. Gardner. Our voluntary sector has an enormous impact on virtually every aspect of American life. This is where we find churches, health agencies, colleges and research institutions, social service agencies, museums, performing arts groups, and a host of other not-for-profit activities. Every American interacts with this sector regularly, yet too often we are unaware of its extraordinary strength and diversity or the role it plays in our national life.

In this thoughtful collection, Brian O'Connell brings together 45 selections which analyze and celebrate the sector's strengths, and variety. Contributors ranging from de Tocqueville, John D. Rockefeller, and Thoreau to Max Lerner, Erma Bombeck, and Vernon Jordan are unified in a common examination of this unique dimension of American life. O'Connell researched nearly 1,000 selections spanning over 300 years of writing to identify those which best define and characterize the role that philanthropy and voluntary activity play in our society.

Brian O'Connell is President of Independent Sector, a national coalition of voluntary organizations, foundations, and corporations which seeks to preserve and enhance our American traditions of giving, volunteering, and not-for-profit initiative. Long recognized as one of the nation's leading advocates of private philanthropy and voluntary action, O'Connell has also served as an active volunteer in numerous public service organizations.

CONTENTS: Foreword. The Independent Sector, by the Honorable John W. Gardner. Introduction.
1. Our religious heritage
2. Pre-Christian philanthropy by Warren Weaver
3. Roots of voluntarism by Rosemary Higgins Cass and Gordon Manser
4. Altruism: Self-sacrifice for others by Lewis Thomas
5. Without Volunteers: a lost civilization by Erma Bombeck
6. A model of Christian charity by John Winthrop
7. Doing good in the new world by Robert Bremner
8. Bonifacius - Essays to do good by Cotton Mather
9. Man the reformer by Ralph Waldo Emerson
10. Of the use which the Americans make of Public Associations in Civil Life by Alexis De Tocqueville
11. True and false philanthropy - McGuffey's reader
12. Raising money by Booker T. Washington
13. Charitable effort by Jane Addams
14. The Joiners by Max Lerner
15. Philanthropy by Henry David Thoreau
16. The gospel of wealth by Andrew Carnegie
17. The difficult art of giving by John D. Rockefeller
18. Principles of public giving by Julius Rosenwald
19. From charity to philanthropy by Daniel Boorstin
20. Stories of notable givers by arnaud C. Marts
21. The unique contribution of the volunteer by Ruth Dodd
22. American Philanthropy and the national character by Merle Curti
23. Liberation and stalemate by David Riesman
24. The American as reformer by Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.
25. The Negro in retrospect and prospect by Mary McLeod Bethune
26. Achieving civil rights by John Hope Franklin
27. The last days of the fight for women's suffrage by Inez Haynes Irwin
28. Mexican-American organization by Henry Santiestevan
29. Private initiative for the public good by John W. Gardner
30. The nongovernmental organization at bay by Alan Pifer
31. Reclaiming the American dream by Richard Cornuelle
32. The role of private philanthropy in a changing society - Commission on foundations and private philanthropy
33. The third sector - Commission on private philanthropy and public needs
34. The voluntary sector: problems and challenges by Pablo Eisenberg
35. The impact of the voluntary sector on society by David Horton Smith
36. The foundation as an expression of a Democratic society by Adam Yarmolinsky
37. The third sector by John D. Rockefeller 3rd
38. The third sector: keystone of a caring society by Waldemar Nielsen
39. What kind of society shall we have? by Richard W. Lyman
40. Corporate philanthropy: historical background by Barry D. Karl
41. Corporate philanthropy - an integral part of corporate social responsibility - Business Roundtable
42. Corporate social responsibility by Walter A. Haas, Jr.
43. The social goals of a corporation by John H. Filer
44. We cannot live for ourselves alone by Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
45. The meaning of volunteering by Brian O'Connell
Bibliography: Brian O'Connell and Ann Brown O'Connell. Index.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Volunteerism