"Since virtually all aspects of Hawai'i's cultural, educational, and social life have been affected by the foundation's century of grantmaking activity, the contents of A Century of Philanthropy will be of interest to students of Hawai'i, as well as to students of America's philanthropic history. The author holds that philanthropic decisions are shaped in part by changing social and economic circumstances, and that charitable foundations can and do play a unique and innovative role in society. This approach affords insight into America's singular "culture of philanthropy."" "The foundation's earliest grants in the 1890s featured educational innovation; in the 1910s and 1920s its grants favored Americanization and Christianization for Hawai'i's heterogeneous population. In more recent decades the foundation's work has included large capital grants to cultural organizations in the 1970s and 1980s, and a renewed emphasis on early education in the 1990s. Over the past one hundred years, the Foundation has evolved from its origins as a special-purpose trust for early childhood education and welfare. A Century of Philanthropy explores the reasons for the evolution and its effect on Hawai'i's history and welfare. The author sees foundations, finally, as agents of social change as well as social conservatism." "The revised edition analyzes the development of the foundation in the 1990s and the early years of the twenty-first century. Special attention is paid to changing trends in national philanthropy and the foundation's renewed vigor in support for and advocacy of early education and care in Hawai'i."--BOOK JACKET.