Limits of the Rockefeller Foundation fellowship funding: Maria Palmira Macedo Tito de Morais and international nursing, 1936-1966

Abstract

The article analyses Maria Palmira Macedo Tito de Morais’ international nursing education as a Rockefeller Foundation fellow, during the Portuguese Estado Novo. It studies the local contexts influence on the international philanthropic agency’s actions, culminating in disputes with World Health Organization over the Portuguese nurse as staff. The sources are two dossiers on Maria Tito de Morais and her two fellowship cards collected at the Rockefeller Archive Center, a report of the Directorate-General of Health of Portugal and the journal A Tribuna, consulted at the Brazilian Digital Library. In conclusion, the Rockefeller Foundation’s strategies, when funding Maria Tito de Morais’ education aiming to hire her did not guarantee control over her professional trajectory.