Philanthropy–giving, serving, helping, advocating–is all around us, but most of us are not taught to recognize it and know little about its impact on our lives. By recognizing its strengths and discussing its limitations and critiques, we can become better philanthropists ourselves, better community members, and better “charitable influencers” of others.
This book was created as a reader for the P105: Giving and Volunteering in America course in the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI. The course introduces non-major undergraduate students to philanthropic ideas, concepts, and influencers in American history at an introductory level. It is mostly built using primary sources and original documents from early thinkers about how people help one another and build communities. It also includes biographical information and descriptions of notable people and organizations as well as some contemporary materials to provide context. This book includes only items that are openly available online, either in their entirety or as links. This approach has some content limitations. Instructors are encouraged to supplement this book with additional instructional materials and discussions. It is important to note that many of the materials are “of their time,” and may use words or language in ways that are different than the modern time. These should be considered in their context and, again, instructors are invited to draw in materials the provide additional perspectives on the people and periods represented in this text.
This book was created as part of the Indiana University Libraries Course Materials Fellowship, a program that supports instructors in providing no-cost texts for students in their classes. The authors would like to acknowledge with gratitude Professor Emeritus William J. Jackson (Religious Studies, IU School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI), whose edited volume, “The Wisdom of Generosity: A Reader on American Philanthropy,” inspired this text. The resources generously shared by Learning to Give were also particularly important to this project. The Philanthropy Roundtable also was generous in sharing its resources. Special thanks also to the P105 teaching team, which works together to develop and refine this course.
