This work examines the profound influence of such foundations as the Southern Education Board, the Roswald Fund, and the General Education Board. Blacks challenged the foundations, expressing their own agendas through resistance to policies of the northern agencies.

Dangerous Donations explores the important limitations on the power of these foundations and their agents. The northern philanthropies had to move cautiously and conservatively, seeking the cooperation of southern whites whenever possible. They believed African Americans could not be excluded from education and must be prepared for productive participation in the South -- whatever its social system -- for the safety of the region and the nation as a whole.