1. Shaped by poverty.
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835. His father was a hand-loom weaver displaced by technological advancements brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The family’s finances were devastated after Carnegie’s father refused to work in local factories, and the household sank into poverty. Carnegie loved his hapless father, but especially revered his mother and her fierce dedication to hard work and to ensuring a better future for her children.
2. An emerging industrialist.
In 1864, Carnegie invested in a Pennsylvania oil field, which soon earned him $1 million. He purchased his first Pittsburgh steel mill and became a partner in the Keystone Bridge Company, setting himself on the course to enormous wealth and fame. By age 30, he had resigned from the Pennsylvania Railroad to concentrate on his own business interests.
3. Giving back to his country that gave him his start.
In 1901, Carnegie retired from business and turned his full-time interest to giving away his vast fortune to improve the lives of others.
An admirer of Abraham Lincoln, Carnegie had maintained a lifelong focus on social justice, education, and the promotion of peace. After selling the Carnegie Steel Company to J.P. Morgan for a sum approaching $500 million, he started numerous nonprofits that are still in existence, including Carnegie-Mellon University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In 1903, Carnegie handwrote a note establishing the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust with the purpose of enriching the lives of people living in the town of his birth. Today, the trust administers public programs that further education, culture and the arts, sports and recreational activities, and community welfare projects.
Carnegie made major contributions to Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, as well as to the New York City Public Library. His donations helped New York to expand its branch library system, and they funded close to 3,000 other public libraries in the U.S. and beyond.
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