Andrew Carnegie

Philanthropy

From 1901 forward public attention was turned from the shrewd business capacity which had enabled him to accumulate such a fortune to the public-spirited way in which he devoted himself to utilizing it on philanthropic objects. His views on social subjects, and the responsibilities which great wealth involved, were already known from a book entitled Triumphant Democracy (1886), and in his Gospel of Wealth (1900). He acquired Skibo Castle, in Sutherland, Scotland, and made his home partly there and partly in New York; then devoted his life to the work of providing the capital for purposes of public interest, and social and educational advancement.

Related Topics:
Gospel of Wealth - Skibo Castle - Sutherland - Scotland

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In all his ideas he was dominated by an intense belief in the future and influence of the English-speaking people, in their democratic government and alliance for the purpose of peace and the abolition of war, and in the progress of education on nonsectarian lines. He was a powerful supporter of the movement for spelling reform, as a means of promoting the spread of the English language.

Related Topics:
Spelling reform - English language

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Among all of his many philanthropic efforts, the establishment of public libraries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in other English-speaking countries, was especially prominent. Carnegie libraries, as they were commonly called, sprang up on all sides. The first of which was opened in 1883 in Dunfermline, Scotland. His method was to build and equip, but only on condition that the local authority provided site and maintenance. To secure local interest, in 1885 he gave $500,000 to Pittsburgh for a public library, and in 1886, he gave $250,000 to Allegheny City for a music hall and library, and $250,000 to Edinburgh, Scotland, for a free library. In total Carnegie funded some 3,000 libraries, located in every U.S. state except Alaska, Delaware and Rhode Island, as well as Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and Fiji.

Related Topics:
Public libraries - United Kingdom - Carnegie libraries - 1885 - U.S. state - Alaska - Delaware - Rhode Island - Ireland - Canada - Australia - New Zealand - West Indies - Fiji

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He gave $2 million in 1901 to start the Carnegie Institute of Technology at Pittsburgh, and the same amount in 1902 to found the Carnegie Institution at Washington, D.C.. He would later contribute more to these and other schools. CIT is now Carnegie Mellon University.

Related Topics:
Carnegie Institute of Technology - Pittsburgh - Carnegie Institution - Washington, D.C. - Carnegie Mellon University

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In Scotland he gave $2 million in 1901 to establish a trust for providing funds for assisting education at the Scottish universities, a benefaction which resulted in his being elected Lord Rector of University of St. Andrews. He was a large benefactor of the Tuskegee Institute under Booker Washington for African American education. He also established large pension funds in 1901 for his former employees at Homestead, and in 1905 for American college professors. He also funded the construction of 7,000 church organs.

Related Topics:
Lord Rector - University of St. Andrews - Tuskegee Institute - Booker Washington - African American

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Also, long before he sold out, in 1879, he erected commodious swimming-baths for the use of the people of his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland. In the following year gave $40,000 for the establishment of a free library in the same city. In 1884, he gave $50,000 to Bellevue Hospital Medical College to found a histological laboratory, now called the Carnegie Laboratory.

Related Topics:
Bellevue Hospital Medical College - Histological - Carnegie Laboratory

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He owned Carnegie Hall in New York City from its construction in 1890 until his widow sold it in 1924.

Related Topics:
Carnegie Hall - New York City

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He also founded the Carnegie Hero Fund commissions in America (1904) and in the United Kingdom (1908), for the recognition of deeds of heroism, and contributed $500,000 in 1903 for the erection of a Peace Palace at The Hague, and of $150,000 for a Pan-American Palace in Washington as a home for the International Bureau of American Republics.

Related Topics:
Carnegie Hero Fund - Peace Palace - The Hague - Pan-American Palace - International Bureau of American Republics

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By the rough and ready standards of 19th century tycoons, Carnegie was not a particularly ruthless man, but the contrast between his life and the lives of many of his own workers and the poor in general was stark. "Maybe with the giving away of his money," commented biographer Joseph Wall, "he would justify what he had done to get that money." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/filmmore/description.html

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