Abstract
This study examines how private philanthropy influences the development of urban policies. It analyzes the Taconic Foundation’s role in shaping the Chicago-based Gautreaux program and elevating that local experiment into the national Moving to Opportunity (MTO) program. We conduct a novel historical analysis of paired archival materials from the Taconic Foundation and its grantee, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), examining grant cycles, correspondence, and decision-making processes from 1977 to 1996. With both financial and social capital, Taconic helped enable the U.S.’s most significant experiment in housing mobility, while also amplifying white liberal preferences for suburban solutions over community-centered approaches. This research demonstrates the value of organizational archives for understanding urban policy development in the 20th century and makes visible a typically invisible institutional actor. Archival materials expose the presence of marginalized voices and alternative approaches that were overshadowed by philanthropic influence.