Charitable Giving Must Perform a Good Use, Says Andrew Carnegie, One of the World’s Greatest Philanthropists
The man who built 1,679 libraries sums up his entire philosophy: “But is it judicious to spend a large sum upon a monument which is dead? If a great sum is to be raised part of it should go to a monument with a soul in it, i.e. something that is performing a good use.”
He has contributed to the memorial for assassinated President William McKinley, and will give more, but has reservations about the plan being too grandiose
Andrew Carnegie’s charitable giving is proverbial, and he gave away $350 million, nearly 90 percent of the fortune he accumulated through the railroad and steel industries. There was...
He has contributed to the memorial for assassinated President William McKinley, and will give more, but has reservations about the plan being too grandiose
Andrew Carnegie’s charitable giving is proverbial, and he gave away $350 million, nearly 90 percent of the fortune he accumulated through the railroad and steel industries. There was a definite philosophy behind his giving: he wanted his gifts to serve a useful and permanent purpose, and not just be grandiose memorials to himself. Between 1886 and 1919, Carnegie’s donations of more than $40 million paid for 1,679 new library buildings in communities large and small across America. These, he believed, would make a real difference, and they did. His philanthropies also included music venues like Carnegie Hall, a fund that built 7,000 church organs, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, among others.
On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York. Following services at the U.S. Capitol, the President’s body was placed on the train for his final trip home to Canton, Ohio. On September 19 McKinley’s body was interred at a receiving vault in Canton’s West Lawn Cemetery. After the services, several of the President’s closest advisors, including McKinley’s Secretary of State William R. Day, his Secretary of the Interior Cornelius Bliss, and Ohio Senator Marcus Hanna, met to discuss the location of a proper memorial to serve as a final resting place. The site chosen was often visited by McKinley. At one time, he even had suggested that a monument to soldiers and sailors from Stark County be placed there.
On September 26, 1901 the McKinley National Memorial Association was formed and President Theodore Roosevelt named the original Board of Trustees. The first order of business was to purchase the site. On October 10, the Association issued a public appeal for $600,000 in contributions for the construction project. That was a great deal of money at the time, and a large tomb was planned. Carnegie was solicited for a contribution, and though he had reservations about the contemplated memorial, he gave $1000. Then Bliss asked for more.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb, completed in 1897, was a large mausoleum fit for a Roman emperor. In 1901, Gen. William T. Sherman’s monument, an fine equestrian statue of him, had been decided upon and was being created.
Typed letter signed, on his personal letterhead, New York, November 21, 1901, to Bliss, giving him a lesson on how the McKinley memorial should proceed, and indeed summing up his entire charitable philosophy in one statement. “I have sent Mr. Hanna one thousand dollars towards the McKinley Memorial, but a note from him tells me that you may need more. If so I shall be very glad to increase my subscription. But is it judicious to spend a large sum upon a monument which is dead? If a great sum is to be raised part of it should go to a monument with a soul in it, i.e. something that is performing a good use. I think the Grant Monument for example is a mistake, the Sherman Monument, perfect. Especially in Canton the monument should be solid as the pyramids, not ornate or pretentious. As I said before I shall be glad to increase my subscription to $5,000, if it be found necessary.” Thus, if McKinley National Memorial Association persisted with a large memorial, at least it should be simple and not elaborate.
We obtained this letter from the descendants of Interior Secretary Bliss, and it has never before been offered for sale.
Did the McKinley National Memorial Association follow Carnegie’s advice? Mostly not. The large memorial went forward, and it has 108 steps to get to the statue of the lamented president. It is not really elaborate, but whether it has soul or not is another question. As for the logistics, in 1902 Ohio supported the effort by proclaiming McKinley’s birthday a special day of observance by the state’s schools. Large numbers of school children contributed to the memorial fund, and the association was able to purchase the proposed site. In June 1903 contributions reached $500,000, and the association invited people to submit design ideas for the proposed memorial. Construction of the memorial began on June 6, 1905, and in September 1907 the monument and the 26 acres surrounding it were finished. The museum draws about 50,000 visitors annually.
Carnegie was right to have reservations about Grant’s Tomb. It fell into disuse and disrepair, and for many years was an eyesore.

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