By Eric Hummer

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrea Smith

Abstract

Museums secure funding through a diverse variety of channels, a substantial portion can be attributed to large donations from individuals or corporations, often manifesting in the form of large-scale exhibitions or building expansions named after the donor. In the United States specifically, numerous renowned museums owe their establishment to donations from philanthropists in the generation of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, among others. Nonetheless, the evolving role of museums during the 20th century and their transition from mere displays of artifacts to multifaceted centers for education and, more recently, social justice, has brought intensified public scrutiny upon grandiose donations from billionaires, corporations, and other affluent groups. Concerns are particularly directed towards the influence of donors on the thematic content of sponsored exhibits. Despite this increased scrutiny, questions arise about museums’ ability to scrutinize donations they once heavily relied on.
Furthermore, the motives behind these philanthropic donations warrant exploration. Philanthropy has long been a celebrated facet of the American wealth system, playing a pivotal role in establishing and sustaining large-scale museums. However, there is a need to investigate potential ulterior motives behind such charitable acts, particularly when the actions of donors’ conflict with the themes of the exhibits they support. While this conflict in motives is more described in the present era, is this conflict a recent development or rather a trend that describes early 20th-century donations as well? A historical examination of these several issues, spanning from the rise of philanthropy in the late 19th/early 20th century to the present day, promises to reveal the evolution of large-scale donations to American museums.