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Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files and printed materials. The greater part of the collection concerns the period 1917-22, with a substantial amount of material on the Humanities Fund and Bakhmeteff's friendships with prominent Americans. Cataloged materials include 50 or more letters from John Spargo, Vasilii Maklakov, Ekaterina Kuskova, Frederic Coudert, Georgii L'vov and Michael Karpovich (the last largely concerning the Humanities Fund); there are also a few items by Louis Brandeis, John Foster Dulles, Samuel Gompers, Colonel Edward House, Charles Lindbergh, and Thomas Masaryk. Extensive files of arranged materials include hundreds of letters by Arkadii Zak (who headed the Russian Information Bureau in New York, 1917-22), items to and by Sergei Uget, and official telegrams from 1917-22. There are manuscripts in the collection by Bakhmeteff, Spargo, Uget and Sergei Prokopovich. Subject files chiefly cover the Civil War period, the Paris Peace Conference, the Humanities Fund and Soviet Russia in the early 1920s. Printed materials include pamphlets, journals and clippings. There are also bound reports by different departments of the Russian embassy and mission from 1917 through the 1920s. In addition, the collection contains an oil portrait of Bakhmeteff by the artist Nicolas Becker.

Minutes, correspondence, annual reports, press releases, financial records, photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual, digital and printed materials document the philanthropic activities and administration of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The collection is actively growing, primarily through regular document transfers from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Andrew Carnegie's biographical information and personal philanthropic activity can be found in Series VII. In addition, his pre-1911 gifts, most notably his donations for libraries and church organs, can be found on microfilm (Series II), in the Home Trust Company Records (VI.A), and Financial Record Books (I.C.1). Grant files (Series III.A), which comprise the bulk of the collection) provide information on projects and institutions founded, endowed or supported by the Corporation. The Special Initiatives series (Series IV) contains the records of task forces, commissions and councils, formed by the Corporation mostly during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to address specific issues. The Corporation's records include those of other Carnegie philanthropic organizations (Series VI), including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Home Trust Company, both of which shared staff, officers, and office space with the Corporation for a period of time.

The Corporation awards grants to nonprofit organizations and institutions for projects that are broadly educational in nature and that show promise of having national or international impact. Certain appropriations are made for activities, such as Corporation-led initiatives that are administered by the foundation's officers. The trustees set the overall policies of the foundation and have final authority to approve all grants above $50,000 recommended by the program staff. Grants of $25,000 or less, called discretionary grants, are made upon the approval of the president and are reported to the board; larger discretionary grants, those between $25,000 and $50,000, are also reviewed by a Corporation-wide group, which makes recommendations to the president. (from Program Guidelines 2003-2004 (http://www.carnegie.org/sub/program/areas.html))

Correspondence, minutes of meetings, financial records, publications, notes, subject files, awards, speeches, reports and audiovisual materials document work by the Church Peace Union, its successors Council on Religion in International Affairs and Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and related organizations such as the World Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches. The first installment of the CCEIA archival materials came to the RBML in 1974, with numerous additions over the years. A major addition in 1982 contained primarily the records of the Board of Directors and their semi-annual meetings, as well as the various programs and institutes of the Council, for the years 1972-1982, along with selected 1930s materials. 1986 addition contains presidential correspondence files, minutes of the Board of Trustees and committees, special projects, programs and conferences files, and the business and editorial files of "Worldview". Correspondents include John Foster Dulles, Jane Addams, Fiorello La Guardia, and Paul Tillich. 1990 and 2000 additions includes files of CCEIA presidents and vice presidents, paper and audiovisual materials on Merrill House Conversation Programs; Educational programs; International Monetary Fund/Lecture series; The Annals Of The Academy Of Political & Social Science; Washington Consultations; Colloquia for the Clergy; Church State Project; Asian Development & The Carribean Initiative; Korea: Year 2000 Project; fundraising files, printed materials and files of the Department of Publications.