The GEB was established in 1903 by John D. Rockefeller. Its goal was to aid education in the U.S. "without distinction of race, sex or creed." The program provided grants for endowment and budgetary support for colleges and universities, funds for special programs, fellowship and scholarship assistance to state school systems, and development of social and economic resources to benefit educational systems. While schools across the U.S. received aid from the Board, southern and African-American institutions were the main beneficiaries.

This large collection consists primarily of memos, reports and correspondence relating to later programs of the General Education Board, especially the New Southern Program beginning in 1940.

The collection has been organized by subject into sub-subseries which are then arranged alphabetically by institution or subject.

The sub-subseries are arranged as follows:
Survey of Education

Education Records Bureau, 1929-1941

Child Study

Seminar on Human Relations, 1933-1936

Adult Education

Southern Program -- General, 1933-1958

Forestry, 1940-1947

Nutrition, 1940-1946

Seafood, 1938-1940

Handicrafts, 1951-1958

Nursing Education, 1948

Segregation, 1956-1961

Health Education, 1940-1954

Cotton, 1947

Business Education, 1944-1953

Postwar Education, 1943-1947

International Education, 1944-1951

General Education, 1933-1948

Natural Science, 1934-1937

Federal Aid to Education, 1949-1959

American Association of University Women, 1959-1960

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