Scottish-born iron and steel magnate in the United States, philanthropist on a scale unprecedented for his time, who founded libraries, donated to schools and universities, established institutions, and supported the arts. He built Carnegie Hall in New York City and founded Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg. He is said to have given away over $350M in his lifetime and another $100M in his will.

Mellon and Schenker

Schenker mentions him in his diary and correspondence, referring to him as "this multimillion-dollar scoundrel" and as having "so little gray matter in his head" (diary, August 23, 1914). In a letter of gratitude to his first great patron, Alphons von Rothschild, he said that Alphons had "bequeathed the world a finer gift with your support of [my] books than did a Carnegie with his millions" (OJ 5/34, [1], March 2, 1911). In a short essay entitled "The Charitable Deeds of American Billionaires," Schenker commented that it is a crime to be as rich as Carnegie was (diary, November 17, 1911).

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