Conservation Foundation, 1949 - 1969

Briefly known as the Society’s Conservation Division, the Conservation Foundation was formed by Osborn in 1948 as an NYZS offshoot to fund research projects and educational programs directed at protecting the world’s natural resources. Specifically, it funded courses in conservation study, educational films and radio programs, publications, investigations and research, and meetings and workshops. While the Conservation Foundation took the conservative approach of aiming to reconcile American industrialism and consumerism with environmental concerns, it also sponsored projects with significant and sometimes radical implications, including the scientific research cited by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962). Osborn served as the Conservation Foundation’s first President until 1962 and later as its Chairman of the Board.

Although this subseries includes materials dating from between 1949 and 1956, the majority of its contents consists of Osborn’s correspondence dating from 1952 and 1956. It is unknown what became of his correspondence from his other years of involvement with the Conservation Foundation, although some of it is interspersed within this collection’s Correspondence series. The majority of correspondence within this subseries is between Osborn and supporters of the Foundation and individuals and organizations supported by the Foundation.