Read complete books and articles on: Andrew Carnegie

Carnegie, Andrew - kärˈnəgē, kärnāˈgē, 1835–1919, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Dunfermline, Scotland. His father, a weaver, found it increasingly difficult to get work in Scottish factories and in 1848 brought his family to Allegheny (now Pittsburgh), Pa. Andrew first worked in a cotton mill as a bobbin boy, then advanced himself as a telegrapher, and became (1859) a superintendent for the Pennsylvania RR. He resigned (1865) his railroad position to give personal attention to the investments he had made (1864) in iron manufactures.

By 1873, Carnegie had recognized America's need for steel and, concentrating on steel production, he began his acquisition of firms, which were later consolidated into the Carnegie Steel Company. His success was due in part to efficient business methods, to his able lieutenants, and to close alliances with railroads. Another factor was his partnership with Henry C. Frick. Carnegie, concentrating on production rather than stock-market manipulations, further expanded his plants and consolidated his hold in the depression of 1893–97. By 1900, the Carnegie Steel Company was producing one quarter of all the steel in the United States and controlled iron mines, coke ovens, ore ships, and railroads. It was in these circumstances that the U.S. Steel Corp. was formed to buy Carnegie out. He had long been willing to sell—at his own price—and in 1901 he transferred possession for $250 million in bonds and retired from business.

Carnegie's essay "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889) set forth his idea that rich men are "trustees" of their wealth and should administer it for the good of the public. His benefactions (totaling about $350 million) included Carnegie Hall (1892) in New York City, the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1902), the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (1904), the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1905), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1910), and over 2,800 libraries. After 1887, Carnegie lived a large part of each year in Scotland on his great estate on Dornoch Firth.

See his autobiography (1920, repr. 1963); biographies by B. J. Hendrick (2 vol., 1932, repr. 1989), A. F. Harlow (1953), and J. F. Wall (1970); study on Carnegie libraries by A. A. Van Slyck (1996).

Show Excerpt Only

15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Andrew Carnegie

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Carnegie » Read Now
by Peter Krass. 612 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

One of the major figures in American history, Andrew Carnegie was a ruthless businessman who made his fortune in the steel industry and ultimately gave most of it away. He used his wealth to ascend the world's political stage, influencing the presidencies of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and...
Read More

One of the major figures in American history, Andrew Carnegie was a ruthless businessman who made his fortune in the steel industry and ultimately gave most of it away. He used his wealth to ascend the world's political stage, influencing the presidencies of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. In retirement, Carnegie became an avid promoter of world peace, only to be crushed emotionally by World War I. In this compelling biography, Peter Krass reconstructs the complicated life of this titan who came to power in America's Gilded Age. He transports the reader to Carnegie's Pittsburgh, where hundreds of smoking furnaces belched smoke into the sky and the air was filled with acrid fumes . . . and mill workers worked seven-day weeks while Carnegie spent months traveling across Europe. Carnegie explores the contradictions in the life of the man who rose from lowly bobbin boy to build the largest and most profitable steel company in the world. Krass examines how Carnegie became one of the greatest philanthropists ever known-and earned a notorious reputation that history has yet to fully reconcile with his remarkable accomplishments.
Show less
2.

Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie (1920) » Read Now
by Andrew Carnegie. 385 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW CARNEGIE -i- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW CARNEGIE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BOSTON AND NEW...MR. CARNEGIES MOTHER 22 ANDREW CARNEGIE AT SIXTEEN WITH HIS...
3.

Andrew Carnegie Centenary, 1835-1935: The Memorial Address by Sir James Colquhoun Irvine and Other Tributes to the Memory of Andrew Carnegie (1935) » Read Now
by Carnegie Corporation of New York. 90 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...ANDREW CARNEGIE CENTENARY ANDREW CARNEGIE CENTENARY 1835-1935 The Memorial Address by SIR JAMES COLQUHOUN IRVINE and other tributes to the memory of Andrew Carnegie...
4.

A Manual of the Public Benefactions of Andrew Carnegie (1919) » Read Now
by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 321 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...THE PUBLIC BENEFACTIONS OF ANDREW CARNEGIE "This, then, is held to...his poorer brethren." -- ANDREW CARNEGIE. COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY...PRESS CONCORD FOREWORD Andrew...
5.

Business Leaders: A Historical Sketch of Andrew Carnegie, in Journal of Leadership Studies » Read Now
by Daniel A. Wren, Ronald G. Greenwood. 7 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Leaders: A Historical Sketch of Andrew Carnegie. by Daniel A. Wren...Algers model could well have been Andrew Carnegie, born on November 25, 1835...accounting. Under...
6.

Carnegie Denied: Communities Rejecting Carnegie Library Construction Grants, 1898-1925 » Read Now
by Robert Sidney Martin. 194 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

Andrew Carnegie was the foremost supporter of public library construction to the point that "Carnegie Library" became a cliche, synonymous with the public library, especially in small towns. Yet some communities that asked for Carnegie's funds to build a library later took public action to decline...
Read More

Andrew Carnegie was the foremost supporter of public library construction to the point that "Carnegie Library" became a cliche, synonymous with the public library, especially in small towns. Yet some communities that asked for Carnegie's funds to build a library later took public action to decline the funds. Because he was viewed as a "robber baron," it has been assumed that these refusals were motivated by a desire not to take "tainted" money. This work documents that this was rarely the case, however, and that the refusal resulted from a complex mix of motives, including local politics and the press of other public projects.
Show less
7.

Democracy and the Gospel of Wealth ("Andrew Carnegie: Wealth" begins on p. 1) » Read Now
by Gail Kennedy. 116 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Entire Library

...simple. Three decades later, Andrew Carnegie in the opening paragraph of...CONTENTS 1 ANDREW CARNEGIE Wealth 1 2...115 THE CLASH OF ISSUES Andrew Carnegie states his...
8.

Henry Clay Frick: The Man (1936) (Chap. VI "Enter the Carnegies") » Read Now
by George Harvey. 382 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
9.

Tropes and Parodies of Capitalist Biography: Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" vs. Herrick's "Memoirs," in Mosaic » Read Now
by Wm. M. Phillips. 8 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...Christian rhetoric employed by Andrew Carnegie in his counter critique or...Philip Armour, Jay Gould, and Andrew Carnegie. Next I will explore how Herrick...will conclude...
10.

The "Better Angels" of Capitalism: Rhetoric, Narrative, and Moral Identity among Men of the American Upper Class ("An Empire of Beneficence: Andrew Carnegie and the Philanthropic Vocation of the Steward-Entrepreneur" begins on p. 218) » Read Now
by Andrew Herman. 287 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

What does it mean to be a man of wealth & power? How is the "worth" of wealth translated into moral worth in the identity of wealthy men? How does this identity comprise a mythical place of masculine desire in the social imagination of the American dream? These are the central themes The "Better...
Read More

What does it mean to be a man of wealth & power? How is the "worth" of wealth translated into moral worth in the identity of wealthy men? How does this identity comprise a mythical place of masculine desire in the social imagination of the American dream? These are the central themes The "Better Angels" of Capitalism explores. Beginning with a series of ethnographic interviews of a variety of wealthy American men, Andrew Herman draws upon diverse perspectives to present a coherent exploration of the sociopolitical implications of being wealthy in an economically unequal-& increasingly unstable-society.
Show less
11.

Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Spirit (1928) ("Andrew Carnegie's Contribution to the Steel Industry" begins on p. 73) » Read Now
by Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh. 393 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Steel Master 63 Andrew Carnegies Contribution to the Steel Industry...Jones, Jr. 65 Andrew Carnegie 73 James H...Allegheny river in 1862. Andrew Carnegie entered the...
12.

Reader in American Library History ("Impact of Carnegie Philanthropy on American Public Library Development" begins on p. 163) » Read Now
by Michael H. Harris. 248 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

...of "reading with a purpose" and the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, faith has found restoration in the "American heritage...Virginians had more interest in the sermons of...
13.

Ragged Dicks: Masculinity, Steel, and the Rhetoric of the Self-Made Man ("Andrew Carnegie and Middle-Class Myth" begins on p. 60) » Read Now
by James V. Catano. 280 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
14.

Books and Reading in the Lives of Notable Americans: A Biographical Sourcebook ("Andrew Carnegie (1815-1919)" begins on p. 32) » Read Now
by John A. McCrossan. 272 pgs.

Collections: History, Education, Literature, Entire Library

Books and reading have contributed to the success of generations of Americans, many of whom have had distinguished careers and have left their mark on history. While the accomplishments of these notable Americans are well known, their adventures with books and reading are less familiar. This book...
Read More

Books and reading have contributed to the success of generations of Americans, many of whom have had distinguished careers and have left their mark on history. While the accomplishments of these notable Americans are well known, their adventures with books and reading are less familiar. This book discusses the reading activities of 50 notable Americans from a wide range of historical periods and professions and from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many of these figures appear prominently in school and college texts or are part of popular culture. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for such readers as Benjamin Franklin, Helen Keller, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mark Twain, Oprah Winfrey, and Ronald Reagan.
Show less
15.

Where Have You Gone, Andrew Carnegie?, in Washington Monthly » Read Now
by Mark Drajem, Peter Henle. 3 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library