Photo courtesy of the Legal Resources Centre.
Supporting human rights and anti-apartheid concerns in South Africa since the 1960s, RBF deepened its interest in these fields by helping to establish the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Johannesburg, through support to the Legal Resources Trust from the late 1970s until the mid 1980s, in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation and local donors in South Africa. The LRC had two thrusts: it was a public interest law firm, offering public defender and legal representation services; and it was a practical training ground for law students working in race relations and human rights, which was especially important to black law students who had difficulty obtaining such opportunities. The Centre continues its valuable efforts today in promoting the use of law as a peaceful means of addressing race-based discrimination and of helping to raise public awareness of many injustices in South Africa.
Browse the major events in the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's history