A century after his death, Andrew Carnegie remains an integral part of Pittsburgh. This town is where he got his first job, built his professional career, and carried out much of his extraordinary philanthropic vision. In the Steel City, Carnegie is a household name. It is a place where locals pronounce “Carnegie” as the Scots do.

Andrew Carnegie’s family settled in a working-class Pittsburgh suburb after journeying from Scotland to New York City, then taking a three-week trip by steamboat to Pennsylvania. It was here that Carnegie started work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill at age 13 before building a career in railroads, steel, and bridges to eventually become one of his era’s most successful businessmen.

Carnegie used his wealth and ideas to establish more than 20 institutions in North America and Europe, translating his passion for art, culture, and education into reality for so many others. Pittsburgh now calls itself home to more Carnegie institutions than any other city.

 

 

Carnegie’s wealth was important, but his ideas — his philosophy of giving — were even more critical, so powerful that more than a century later they continue to attract leading professionals and volunteers alike. Are the ideas on which he built his organizations and the goals he set for them still relevant today?

Look just at Pittsburgh. Today, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission is preparing to celebrate its 10,000th hero. Carnegie Mellon tops university rankings in critical areas such as computer science and artificial intelligence. Carnegie Museum of Art was the first in the United States to place a strong focus on contemporary art. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh welcomes nearly three million visitors each year, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History contains one of the world’s greatest archives of biodiversity and the history of life.

In the lead-up to the centennial year of his passing in 1919, Carnegie institutions around the world are hosting a series of events titled Forging the Future, honoring Andrew Carnegie’s commitment “to do real and permanent good in this world,” while also working to keep his legacy alive and vital into the next century.

The next Forging the Future event, “The Power of One: A Tribute to the Power of the Individual,” will take place on June 12 and be hosted by four Pittsburgh institutions: the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University. Celebrating the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission’s 10,000th hero, the event will recognize civilians who have risked — and sometimes actually lost — their lives trying to save the lives of others. Even before he signed the deed establishing the commission in 1905, Carnegie had long felt strongly about acknowledging the heroism of individuals.

“He said we live in a heroic age and indeed, we still do,” says Carnegie Hero Fund Commission president Eric P. Zahren. “We’re still seeing people risk their lives on a consistent basis and we don’t expect that to change. Even now, in our disconnected, technology-driven world reportedly void of human compassion, as it is too often presented, heroes abound.”

Over the last 114 years, acts of heroic bravery have changed. It’s unlikely, for example, that modern heroism will involve a runaway horse buggy — but Andrew Carnegie’s commitment to honoring brave civilians endures. The Hero Fund recognizes acts of  courage as varied as a cafeteria clerk who stopped her car to help a wounded police officer to a business owner who saved a woman falling from a bridge. By awarding medals and financial rewards — which may entail paying the educational costs for the hero’s children — the impact of acts of personal bravery can ripple across generations.

Like many of his philanthropic endeavors, the commission exemplifies that celebrating the power of individuals, appreciating art, and fostering scientific exploration remain as relevant today as in the 19^th century.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which consists of Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum, is a partner for the “Power of One” event and an institution built around the local Pittsburgh community.

 

 

“Andrew Carnegie founded the museums to bring the world to Pittsburgh,” says Bill Hunt, chair of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees. “At that time, people didn’t travel outside their home base, people did not have disposable income, and their educations were much more restricted, if they had education at all. He wanted to change that, to open up the world to the people in the city and give back to the people of Pittsburgh.”

As an immigrant, Carnegie believed education was a great equalizer and was committed to ensuring that his philanthropy would create “ladders on which the aspiring can rise.” Today, the museums bring more than 150 special exhibitions, films and theatre shows to the city each year. The history museum examines the impact of humanity on nature and the environment, while the Carnegie Science Center’s STEM program works to build enthusiasm and interest so that Pittsburgh’s children might grow up to consider careers in specialized fields.

As another step on the ladder on which the aspiring can rise, Andrew Carnegie — the “Patron Saint of Libraries” — knew libraries could offer cultural resources for newcomers to America. Growing up in Pittsburgh, he worked long hours and had no access to formal education, but a local merchant lent him books, which solidified his belief in the immense potential of libraries.

In recent years, Pittsburgh, like many American cities, has seen an increase in immigrants, like the Carnegie family, welcoming more than 22,000 new residents from 2010 to 2016. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh offers English classes, supporting those new to the city, as well as providing materials in other languages and holding naturalization ceremonies. Over the years the library’s 19 locations have grown along with the city, and consistently served its residents’ needs.

“Our story is really interwoven into the Pittsburgh story,” says Mary Frances Cooper, Library president and director. “The library has been here for every challenge and opportunity that Pittsburgh has faced.”

When Carnegie said, “Pittsburgh entered the core of my heart when I was a boy and cannot be torn out,” he could not imagine that almost 100 years after his death he would remain a vital part of the Steel City. Andrew Carnegie would not have been the same man without Pittsburgh and, without him, Pittsburgh would not be the city it is today.

 

Toward the end of Andrew Carnegie’s life, achieving world peace became the philanthropist’s primary occupation. Civilized nations had abandoned practices of slavery and dueling; the telephone, trains, and steamships were globalizing communications; and the Great Powers had been at peace since the 1871 Franco-Prussian War — surely, the abolition of war would follow.

Until his death in 1919 (two months after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles), Carnegie worked tirelessly to “hasten the abolition of international war.” For Carnegie, war was “the foulest stain that remains to disgrace humanity, since slavery was abolished.”

Given that the world today is still very much mired in war and conflict, it is fitting that the family of Carnegie institutions opened the Forging the Future series with an event that draws upon the lessons of the past century as we look — it is hoped — to forge a more peaceful future.

On April 26 the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and Carnegie Corporation of New York hosted a conversation in New York City with author and Duke University professor Bruce W. Jentleson.

Beyond academia, Jentleson has also helped shape U.S. foreign policy in a range of different positions at the State Department and has worked with various presidential administrations. From coordinating communications between former PLO leader Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s to serving on the National Security Advisor Steering Committee of the 2012 Obama presidential campaign, Jentleson has been involved in some of the most critical diplomatic and security negotiations of the past two decades.

In a discussion centering around his recently released book, The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from Twentieth-Century Statesmanship (W. W. Norton), Jentleson posed the fundamental question of whether leaders shape history — or vice versa. For Jentleson, individuals make the critical difference, be they political mandarins or ordinary citizens. He made a compelling case for the importance of vision, courage, and moral authority in facilitating the breakthroughs that can bring about real and lasting peace.

In what proved to be the highlight of the talk, Jentleson described a key interaction between then-U.S. national security advisor Henry Kissinger and former Chinese premier Zhou Enlai around the time of the U.S.-China rapprochement of 1972. When Kissinger entered the first — very secret — meeting (dubbed “Operation Marco Polo”), he extended a handshake to Zhou. Kissinger knew that, nearly 20 years earlier, then-secretary of state John Foster Dulles chose to shake hands with former Soviet foreign minister Molotov, but he refused to take the hand of Zhou. Jentleson credits Kissinger for understanding the significance of a handshake in this context, and thereby possibly changing the course of history.

Jentleson recounted several similar moments in 20th-century history when peace was established thanks to the — as one can see in hindsight — visionary actions of individuals.

Today, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Peace continues to celebrate Andrew Carnegie’s commitment to greater international understanding, justice, and peace by using its convening power to bring together leaders from around the world to share ideas, reflect on experiences, and engage in public conversations. These dialogues are a vital stepping stone toward achieving “real and permanent good in this world” — and perhaps even toward Andrew Carnegie’s dream of world peace.

It is not often that we have an opportunity to think in terms of 100 years. It’s a span well suited to remind us that while our lives are time-bound, our connections endure. As much as things change, they remain the same.

In the early hours of August 11, 1919, Andrew Carnegie passed away peacefully at his Shadowbrook estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, with his wife, Louise, at his side.

In the words of Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, “The legacy of Andrew Carnegie celebrates the power of the individual, enabled and empowered to live freely and to think independently, as well as the power of an educated citizenry and a strong democracy. In this way, democracy, education, knowledge, freedom, and international peace are necessary ingredients to a healthy society.”

It is the Carnegie family of institutions, founded and inspired by Andrew Carnegie, to which we now turn — almost one hundred years on — to lead the path forward in celebration of his legacy. Over the course of the next year, these institutions will honor his life by addressing those issues Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of knowledge and understanding, and the strength of our democracy.

The Carnegie family of institutions — in New York City, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Europe — is sponsoring events over the next 18 months to answer key questions and commemorate Andrew Carnegie’s lasting achievements in peace, education, the arts, science, culture, and philanthropy.

The title of the event series, Forging the Future, encapsulates the most difficult and urgent challenges we face, and will culminate with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy awards ceremony in New York City in October 2019.

 

 

The first event in the series took place just last month in New York City as Carnegie Corporation of New York and Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs hosted a lecture by Bruce W. Jentleson, a leading American foreign policy scholar, on his new book, The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from Twentieth-Century Statesmanship.

The Peacemakers covers a broad range of historical examples of leadership and peacebuilding, from Yitzhak Rabin’s efforts for Arab-Israeli peace to Dag Hammarskjöld’s effectiveness as Secretary-General of the United Nations and Mahatma Gandhi’s pioneering use of nonviolence as a political tool.

At a time in the world when peace seems elusive and conflict endemic, The Peacemakers makes a forceful and inspiring case for the continued relevance of statesmanship and diplomacy, providing practical guidance to 21st-century leaders seeking lessons from some of history’s most impactful negotiators, activists, and trailblazers.

The second Forging the Future event will be led by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and takes place on June 12 in Pittsburgh. Celebrating the actions of those who risk their lives while saving or attempting to save the lives of others, the Commission will honor its 10,000th hero at The Power of One: A Tribute to the Power of the Individual, an event cosponsored by Carnegie Mellon University, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Finally, this coming fall the Carnegie Foundation/Peace Palace will host Carnegie Peace-Building Conversations at the Peace Palace in The Hague (September 24–26). The Peace Palace, which houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice, was built largely thanks to a substantial donation from Andrew Carnegie. The event will highlight Carnegie’s legacy as a peacemaker through a series of panel discussions on a number of topics, including ethics in peacebuilding, health and peace, artificial intelligence, security of natural resources, and financing peace.

After more than 100 years of doing real and permanent good in the world, the Andrew Carnegie family of institutions looks forward to the next century and considers how we must forge the future to sustain our founder’s vision in a new world.