Lincoln Center, Emporium of the Arts

John D. Rockefeller III, President of the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts, says, “Lincoln Center is a story in the American tradition of voluntary private initiative and of what it means in service to- the public…. It can be one means of helping to meet a paramount need of our time: the need of modern man for creative fulfillment—his striving for self-expression and the emotional and aesthetic satisfactions that set him above the animal … The task ahead [raising money] can be accomplished only with the interest, understanding and cooperation of all the segments of our society who have a stake in Lincoln Center—Government, business, labor, philanthropy and above all, the individual American citizen.”

The President of the United States, at the ground-breaking ceremony, said of Lincoln Center, “Here will develop a mighty influence for Peace and Understanding. ”

It is curious that, in the face of such inspiring statements, the bui...