The Rockefeller Foundation released Democracy & Philanthropy: The Rockefeller Foundation and the American Experiment this week. Written by Eric John Abrahamson, Sam Hurst and Barbara Shubinski and produced by Vantage Point, the book explores the tensions inherent in philanthropy’s relationship with democratic government over the last century in the context of the Rockefeller Foundation’s work. […]
The Rockefeller Foundation celebrated its centennial this week with a salute to American philanthropy. Elton John received a lifetime achievement award for his efforts to fight HIV and the stigma of AIDS. All the guests who attended the event at the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. received a copy of Beyond Charity: A […]
Eric John Abrahamson will respond to readers on Firedog Lake’s book salon on Saturday, August 17, 2013 from 5pm to 7pm (Eastern). Former Special Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia Kouril will serve as the interlocuter for this event. Online participants will have the opportunity pose questions about the Howard Ahmanson, the postwar mortgage industry and […]
The prudent directors of most private foundations and public charities invested the funds entrusted to them conservatively in the early twentieth century. But there were some directors who asked why their investment policies shouldn’t be aligned with the mission and program of the organization. In 1919, for example, when steel workers struck to reduce their […]
Eric John Abrahamson will talk about the convergence of popular aspiration, public policy, and commercial interests in the creation of the mid-century American dream home in a presentation at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. The event is free to the public. For more information, visit the Hammer’s […]
American Banker highlights lessons learned for the mortgage industry in an article and video interview with Vantage Point historian Eric John Abrahamson. The excerpt includes the story of how Howard Ahmanson bought his first savings and loan in 1947. Ahmanson went on to create the largest savings and loan in the United States in the 1950s […]
Pimm Fox and Carol Massar welcomed Eric John Abrahamson to “Taking Stock,” their show on Bloomberg Radio on April 18. Broadcast live from Bloomberg’s headquarters on Lexington Avenue in New York City, the conversation focused on the past and future of homeownership in America, as well as the personality and business strategies of Howard F. […]
New York Observer writer Kim Velsey reviews Eric John Abrahamson’s Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream. Velsey describes the book as “a prequel to the housing horror movie that we have watched play out these last few years.” The book “chronicles a time when collaborations between the government and corporations […]
Los Angeles historian Adam Arenson is researching the history of Home Savings bank buildings and the fascinating relationship between Howard Ahmanson and Millard Sheets. His latest blog post looks at Sheets’s first project for Ahmanson, the National American Fire Insurance building on Wilshire. The building was torn down to make room for the Ahmanson Center. […]
Eric John Abrahamson will talk about Howard Ahmanson’s contributions to Southern California and the politics of the American dream in a presentation at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 16 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. As the sole owner of Home Savings & Loan, the largest thrift in the country in the […]