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International Center for Social Gerontology [boxes 23-25] documents Donahue's professional activities 1973-1982 when she was director of this Washington, D.C. agency. The files are arranged alphabetically by topic and primarily contain material on efforts to improve housing for the elderly during the 1970s. The many grant applications in this series are good sources of information, because they provide explanations of the intent and scope of the many programs designed by the ICSG.

The first program undertaken by the ICSG was the 1973 "International Symposium on Housing and Environmental Design for Older Adults." One outcome of the symposium was a study of congregate housing in the United States and Western Europe. Congregate housing provides housing for older adults who require some personal assistance and housekeeping services but do not require the medical care provided by a nursing home. A second outcome was the formation of the International Clearinghouse Study Committee on Housing and Environmental Planning for Older Adults (1974-1975). The International Clearinghouse studied methods for improving the dissemination of information resources in the areas of aging, housing, environmental planning, as well as how these resources were used.

From 1973 to 1977 the ICSG was involved in developing and promoting a Vacation Residential Exchange Program for Older Adults. The program offered travel opportunities for older adults who lived in public housing. From 1975 to 1978 the ICSG developed sheltered housing in Maryland. Sheltered housing is congregate housing for older semi-independent adults. The Maryland program was later expanded into a national program, the Housing Technical Assistance Program (H-TAP). H-TAP developed educational materials on and offered training in housing the aged for state and local agencies. The program ran from 1977 to 1982.

The last significant project undertaken by the ICSG under Donahue's leadership was a 1979 symposium titled "White House Conferences as Agents for Social Change." The symposium provided input for the congressionally-mandated 1981 White House Conference on Aging.