A factory boy turned industry titan made an... - The History Archives | Facebook
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A factory boy turned industry titan made an extraordinary decision that changed America forever. Andrew Carnegie, once the world's richest man, gave away 90% of his wealth - nearly $350 million (about $11.4 billion today) - to build libraries across the globe.
Inspired by a free lending library that helped him escape poverty as a young man, Carnegie funded 2,509 libraries worldwide between 1883-1929. His vision reached across 47 U.S. states, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada.
These weren't just gifts - they came with conditions. Communities had to provide the land, staff salaries, and commit 10% of the library's annual operating costs. This ensured local investment and long-term sustainability.
The impact was unprecedented. At one point, over half of all U.S. public libraries were Carnegie-funded. Many of these grand buildings still stand today, their distinctive architecture a testament to Carnegie's belief that knowledge should be accessible to all.
Sources:
Carnegie's "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889),
Carnegie's Autobiography (1911),
David Nasaw's "Andrew Carnegie" (2006)
Dave FrazierToday the hoard the wealth & try to take away from everyone else.
Sj McgahanDave Frazier difference has a bit to do with the fact that many industrialists owned the factories outright. Today you have ownership by investors- who care more about their returns and profits than they do about their employees.
Lisa Aragona-KingDave Frazier he did, too. He exploited and dehumanized his workers. At the end of his life, he whitewashed his atrocities by funding the library system that helped lead my family from illiterate immigrants to people with advanced degrees in three
generations. People are fascinating animals.
Jeff HitzlerLisa Aragona-King from some of the things I’ve read about him most of the dehumanizing came after he had managers running things. Later in life he spent a lot of time in his homeland for health reasons. That’s when the strike happened and people were killed.
Damon TimblinDave Frazier he's an exception. People have been hoardi.g wealth for centuries. But, go ahead and try to make it seem like only a modern problem. Blatant stupidity, or just dishonesty?
Cheryl KomlancHe built his enormous wealth on the backs of his employees. Theory is he was afraid of going to hell in his later years and did this to assuage his guilt for how he had exploited his workers.
Andrew HobsonCheryl Komlanc Maybe some of this is true. It’s certainly not unbelievable. In his defence I would say that great wealth and power are extremely addictive and difficult to give up. None of us are immune to these things. It’s rare to see these days, any…
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Cheryl KomlancTom Gennette he exploited his workers. Company towns, horribly dangerous working conditions, terrible pay, .........they weren't called robber barons for no reason
Mike CrevakCheryl Komlanc I agree, Cheryl. Some say his philanthropy was the act of soothing a guilty conscience. I am not convinced he had one. I think his philanthropy was an act of self-promotion.
Lenora FowlerCheryl Komlanc criticize him if you will, but most people die never seeing the error of their ways.
Helena HorwathWhatever the story, the fact is that he did a great deal of good. Some so-called philanthropists these days seem to do good but in reality do harm.
Peter MachadoCheryl Komlanc you people have nothing good to say about people that do good things. The evil you see is within you. Nothing but evil can come from evil, from you!
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Rosemary JensenWhen America was good or even to the critics: trying to be good.
Luc ChouineEVERY billionaire - and even somewhat less obscenely rich - should do an equivalent redistribution of wealth, since their sums are beyond ANY human's NEED and MERIT!
Judy DaleLuc Chouine What about YOU? Do you have luxuries that you don't really need, just want? How do you merit what you have? This lesson of freely sharing according to what we have is not just for the wealthy, most of us have more than we need. Do you
really want redistribution of all our resources equally, why not everybody??? Who do you suggest decides whose wealth needs redistributed, does every person get the same amount? I don't think we can trust any person or government with that much power.....

Nic MooreLuc Chouine people who are broke are broke for a reason. You can give them all the money they want and they’d go broke really fast. With nothing to show. So it’s better the people who know how to manage money keep all the money and use it for good purp…
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Weslee HurshHe did this in atonement for his business practices. Tell the whole story.
Weslee HurshFolks, my point is this. He was flawed as are we all. I'm just saying, tell the whole story. I live in southwestern Pennsylvania and have benefited greatly from Carnegie Libraries.
Virginia ConesWeslee Hursh since none of us knew him personally, we can only guess the motivation. Whatever it was and the result has helped educate many people. Maybe it was a Genesis 50 :20.
Al GoneWeslee Hursh well hell, clearly the money he gave away did nothing for those that received it.
Joyce KirkhamWeslee Hursh I get real tired of stuff like this. Canonizing to sainthood men who ran roughshod over others, cheated, lied, stole even to accumulate the vast wealth that made everyone then decide they are stellar human beings.
Heather FergusonWeslee Hursh what are you talkingvabout. He has been controlling Trump for years probably. He is behind the whole thing. Atonement do you know what the wordvmeans?
Cris TalMichael Aguilar look at your calendar, Brandon has been out of office 3 months, but you are right, that dude couldn't do much, thanks for pointing out what an embarrassment he was
Nic MooreMichael Aguilar he left the White House a few months ago. Don’t worry. There’s a new guy there now so it’ll get better.
Susan Shaver-KeevicanMichael Aguilar He built quite an empire by not being able to read a difficult contract with many construction companies and dealing with the local governments. It's amazing to me what you antiTrumpers believe.
Brian HoltUnfortunately there were not enough Carnegies. By the time FDR was forming the New Deal, private philanthropy, whether by individual, religious organizations, or others who had traditionally given to society, were unable to meet the massive needs. Henc…
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Andy DurkeeI’ve always thought that his philanthropic efforts were a way to atone for his ruthless business practices!
Martha KimballI frequented the Carnegie library in the coal/ railroad small town, Rock Springs, Wyoming... became an avid reader. I spent a lot of time in the downstairs children's library reading whole sections of their collection...then moved to the upstairs adult…
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Tailee BorjonIF ONLY——- all the wealthy people can follow his foot steps !!!
Vicki NataliImagine if someone did something like that today!
Laura Winters-DukeI was one of those formed by Carnegie Libraries, and am forever grateful.
Kathy YoungWould that we have millionaires with a commitment like his
Deborah SchaeferAnd now they want to eliminate all federal funding for libraries.
David WebbDeborah Schaefer GOOD !!! All libraries should be LOCALLY funded ! My local library is a Carnegie. LOCAL people had to raise matching funds to build it. LOCAL people had to supply it. LOCAL taxes currently support it.
Ivan KozlovWasn't his reasoning that he'd gotten his advantage by going to his library, and decided that no one should go without?
Robert A YatesThis is why you tax the rich. When taxed at a high rate, rich people would build libraries, museums, and other buildings they could put their name on rather than give their money to the government to decide what to do with it.
Joyce QuinnI didn’t realize the extent of his gifts to worldwide libraries. Thanks for sharing this information. It is amazing to realize the commitments he put on the local libraries.
From the time my parents took me to our local library in Cleveland on a stree…
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Julie Potter VitaleThat's what you do if your a Billionaire you give back not keeping taking every last breath from every one else.
Pamela DaltonMany had no other access to books growing up! Indiana benefitted from his donation.
Patsy EvansToday rich men only care about themselves and making more money. We need more like Carnegie. Thank heavens for some one like Dollie Parton who gives away so many books to those who cannot afford to buy them
Linda SandersenWonderful thing he did! But now we have a moron who doesn't read banning great books...
Patricia BeckWouldn't it be nice to have just one billionaire alive today that had a giving heart?
Aaron CarineHis philanthropy may have done something to make up for his exploitation of labor.
Bob Neeterbob ShoupCarnegie ran his steel factories 7 days a week, 12 hour days, only Christmas and July 4th days off. Men were killed daily due to lack of safety equipment and processes. Men would be totally worn out by their 40s and then fired. This was truly blood money he gave away.
Spirit WilliamsHe did it out of guilt....his operations to accumulate his wealth were horrific.
Alma PerkinsCarnegie Libraries helped generations before computer & cell phones. I got part of my education in a hometown library & traveled the world,
now age 95. Many folks still use ours, & many teachers are there day & nite, offering special courses
like computer helps, & for those learning to read.
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https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofa0000carn_b0m4/page/124/mode/2up
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https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17976/17976-h/17976-h.htm
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https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/the-autobiography-of-andrew-carnegie-with-an-introduction-by-vartan-gregorian/
The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie. With An Introduction by Vartan Gregorian
May 31, 2011
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In honor of the one-hundredth anniversary of Carnegie Corporation of New York: A new edition of the classic memoir by one of history’s greatest philanthropists.
Andrew Carnegie was an immigrant, a poor boy who worked in a cotton mill, a man who amassed a great fortune as a steel baron and then became one of the most generous and influential philanthropists the world has ever known.
Carnegie’s famous dictum, that he who dies rich dies disgraced, has inspired philanthropists and philanthropic enterprises for generations. During his own lifetime, he put his ideas into action by creating a family of organizations that continue to work toward improving the human condition, advancing international peace, strengthening democracy, and creating societal progress that benefits men, women, and children in the United States and around the globe.
Now, to mark its centennial, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the foundation created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911, has partnered with PublicAffairs to reissueThe Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, with an introduction by Carnegie Corporation’s president Vartan Gregorian. Here, in his own words, Mr. Carnegie tells the dramatic story of his life and career, outlining the principles that he lived by and that today serve as the pillars of modern philanthropy.
In his introduction, Gregorian explores events that made up Andrew Carnegie’s remarkable journey from living in poverty to more or less inventing the modern field of philanthropy. The Corporation’s twelfth president, himself a historian, reflects not only on Andrew Carnegie’s impact on society but, in a general sense, on the role of the individual in history:
"I believe I can say with reasonable certainty that the notion of free individuals working together toward a higher common good is one that Andrew Carnegie would have celebrated. Though he was influenced by Social Darwinism, a set of late nineteenth-century ideologies that primarily focused on “the survival of the fittest” as an organizing principle of society, he came to very different conclusions about how these ideas played out in real life. He believed that in the ranks of the disadvantaged, one might find what he called “the epochmakers” because those who triumphed over adversity had to be possessed of extraordinary will and indomitable spirit. A true idealist, he believed in the maxim that a rising tide lifts all boats, and hence, his “epoch-makers” and others like them were obligated to make every effort to advance society and improve conditions for all men, women, and children."
Born in 1835, Andrew Carnegie emigrated with his family to the United States from Scotland at a young age. His first job was in a cotton factory, and he later worked as an errand boy. The industrial age brought great opportunities for Mr. Carnegie. With drive and hard work, he amassed a fortune as a steel tycoon, and by adulthood the errand boy was one of the richest and most generous men in the United States. A strong dedication to giving back guided him throughout his life and career.
Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic foundation created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to do “real and permanent good in this world.”
PublicAffairs is a member of the Perseus Books Group. The Perseus Books Group was created with the belief that works of literary fiction and serious nonfiction are both necessary and desirable and that an innovative and aggressive new model of publishing can fill a void in today's marketplace and allow works of quality to be published both profitably and well. Devoted entirely to supporting and fostering such works, each Perseus Books Group member is editorially independent and individually focused, and all are committed to publishing books that matter.
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