Carnegie vision shines from pages of past

A hundred years after the death of Dunfermline-born American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on August 11 1919, Michael Alexander examines his legacy

He was the Fife-born American industrialist who amassed a $480 million fortune in the steel industry, then became a major philanthropist.

A hundred years after the death of Andrew Carnegie, there is more interest than ever in the legacy of the man who spent more than 70% of his fortune on worthy causes.

He established more than 2,500 public libraries, donated more than 7,600 church organs and endowed groups dedicated to research in science, education and world peace.

Among his gifts was the $1.1m required for the land and construction costs of Carnegie Hall, the legendary New York concert venue that opened in 1891.

However, he never forgot where he came from.

His first major donation was for the construction of Dunfermline’s swimming baths, opened in 1877, and the world’s first Carnegie library, also in his home town, which opened on August 29 1883.

Born in Dunfermline on November 25 1835, Andrew Carnegie was the second of two sons of Will, a handloom weaver, and Margaret, who did sewing work for local shoemakers.

In 1848, the Carnegie family

In Carnegie’s opinion, a free library offered an egalitarian route into education

moved to America in search of better economic opportunities and settled in Allegheny City – now part of Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania.

Andrew, whose formal education ended when he left Scotland, worked in a cotton factory before rising to the position of division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859.

He invested in iron and oil companies and made his first fortune by the time he was in his early 30s.

In the early 1870s he entered the steel business and over the next 20 years became a dominant force in the industry, “transforming the landscape of America”, according to Gino Francesconi, director of archives at the Carnegie Hall in New York.

Mr Francesconi said not only did Carnegie’s steel company provide the raw material for railroads, bridges, and skyscrapers, his belief in public private partnerships gave Americans access to information through free and open libraries.

He said: “Among his many endeavours, Carnegie Hall in New York stands as an inspiring testament to his vision of a platform designed to be welcoming to all – one, as he said at the hall’s groundbreaking, that would intertwine itself with the history of the country. The hall continues to be a place where history is made, bringing all of us together.”

In 1901, he sold the Carnegie Steel Company to banker John Pierpont Morgan for $480m.

Morgan merged Carnegie Steel with other businesses to form US Steel, the world’s first billion-dollar corporation.

Carnegie retired from business and devoted himself to full-time philanthropy, eventually giving away more than $350m – $7 billion today.

The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum in Dunfermline, which includes the original cottage in which Carnegie was born, is the best place to learn about the early period in his life.

The cottage was bought by his wife Louise for his 60th birthday and when the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust was set up in 1903, it came under the trust’s remit and eventually opened to visitors.

Carnegie spent summers in Scotland and visited the museum in 1908 – an occasion marked by his entry in the visitors’ book.

After he died on August 11 1919, aged 83, at his Massachusetts estate, Louise suggested a museum wing should be built onto the cottage.

Louise – the daughter of a New York City merchant – helped to set up most of the original displays before it opened in 1928.

Kirke Kook, curator and manager at the museum, said that while he only spent 12 years growing up in Dunfermline, they were significant as they provided him with his only formal education.

He also encountered the British class system and social injustice.

Kirke believes Carnegie would have been philanthropic whatever his station in life – although he was not religious, he felt strongly about issues such as education and world peace. Crucially, he was against charity – instead believing in creating the means for people to help themselves.

In 1889 he published the Gospel of Wealth, an article outlining the responsibility of the new upper class of self-made rich people to help the common man, stating millionaires were just “trustees for the poor”.

Kirke said: “In Carnegie’s opinion, a free public library offered an egalitarian route into education, did not set restrictions on enrolment and had relatively low running costs.

“He thought that informal education – apprenticeships etc – should be held in equally high regard.

“In the museum we draw parallels with him and Bill Gates.

“But if Carnegie were around today he’d be shocked to see how little wealth is distributed.

“He’d be sad to see the decline in the importance of libraries – he regarded them to be the heart of a community.

“He’d also be sad to see that informal education is no longer valued as highly and shocked how little progress has been made with establishing world peace.”

Booked up: Andrew Carnegie, main picture; his birthplace, top left; first public library in Dunfermline; his book Triumphant Democracy setting out his views on American society; facade of Carnegie Hall in New York, left; and seen with his wife Louise, right.