Andrew Carnegie Philanthropist

 

Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in steel, and then he gave most of it away.

Born in Scotland in 1835, he moved to America as a child. He worked his way up from a poor factory boy to the richest man in the world. By the 1890s, Carnegie Steel dominated the industry. In 1901, he sold it for $480 million. Then, he focused on giving.

Carnegie believed, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” He set out to give away his fortune before he died.

He built over 2,500 libraries. “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people.” Cities and towns had to promise to maintain them, but Carnegie paid for the buildings. The New York Times called it “an extraordinary gift to the common man.”

He funded universities and scientific research, giving millions to establish Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He created the Carnegie Institution for Science. President Theodore Roosevelt praised him, saying, “Mr. Carnegie has done more for education and learning than any man of his generation.”

He supported world peace, and built the Peace Palace in the Netherlands, hoping to prevent war. He created the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Critics called him naïve, but he believed, “The time will come when men will see war as foolish as dueling.”

He started pension funds for teachers and steel workers and gave millions to improve working conditions. Some never forgave him for the deadly Homestead Strike of 1892, when his company crushed a steelworker uprising. The Pittsburgh Post noted, “His generosity is vast, but his past shadows him.”

Carnegie gave away over $350 million—about $10 billion today. When he died in 1919, The Washington Post wrote, “Few men have ever done so much for so many.”

His name is everywhere—Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Libraries, Carnegie Mellon. But his real legacy is simple: he proved that wealth when shared, can change the world.

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