Charles Dana Bennett was born in Syracuse, New York, on April 20, 1903. He attended private schools and Columbia University. While at Columbia from 1920 to 1923, Bennett studied journalism. He married Edith Thoman on September 20, 1924.

During the 1930s, Edith and Dana resided in Europe. In 1940, Bennett served as public relations director for Governor George Aiken of Vermont, who introduced him to agriculture. He worked for the National Grange, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the National Cooperative Milk Producers Federation. Bennett was a director of the Citizens Committee for the Hoover Report, a member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a participant in the Naval War College Global Conference.

In 1945, in concert with his farm organization and agribusiness friends, Dana organized the Foundation for American Agriculture. It was incorporated in the state of Illinois and operated from offices in Washington, D.C.

The Foundation's stated purposes were to inform the public about agribusiness, conduct research, publish articles by persons prominent in agribusiness, increase understanding in Rural and urban America about the role played by agribusiness, and avail itself of all recognized media for the dissemination of its educational programs.

The Foundation had a board of sixteen persons from agriculture and sixteen persons from agribusiness. The group held a men-only winter meeting at the Chicago during the week following Thanksgiving in conjunction with the International Livestock Exposition. Another meeting was held during the late spring in differing locations.

Through Bennett's efforts, the Foundation also formed the National Farm-City Council to sponsor Farm-City Week. Another of his creations was the Farm Film Foundation, which his wife Edith administered for many years. This foundation distributed educational motion pictures to vocational agriculture departments and other farm groups.

Dana Bennett passed away in Bethesda, Maryland, on February 15, 1987.

This collection contains correspondence from Dana Bennett during the years 1966-1971 when he was actively soliciting for the National Safety Council. Among the correspondents are Harold Heldreth, Howard Pyle, and Charles F. Masterson.

The collection is arranged in alphabetical order.