Andrew Carnegie & other Scottish Philanthropists

This summer Dunfermline, Fife will play host to the second annual Carnegie Festival. The festival, in honour of one of Scotland’s most famous philanthropic sons Andrew Carnegie, celebrates and pays homage to a remarkable life and an enormous living legacy, which is still of major influence today. To reflect the many causes that Carnegie championed and supported the festival’s themes range from innovation, enterprise and politics to music and film.

The first Carnegie Festival joined forces with the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics - the first conducted away from the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood - and the Edinburgh International Science Festival. A diverse, entertaining and innovative programme of events made it a resounding success.

From rags to riches

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835. At the age of 13 to escape poverty and in the hope of a better life his family emigrated to Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Carnegie‘s first job in America was as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He progressed from there to work at the Ohio Telegraph Company as a telegraph messenger. Hard work and resourcefulness furthered him to the position of private secretary and telegrapher at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He quickly rose through the ranks to become superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the railway. Following a series of successful investments he formed a steel mill in the area and developed iron works, producing, amongst many other things, iron railway bridges. By 1889 it is estimated that Carnegie controlled about 25% of American iron and steel production.

The ‘father of modern philanthropy’

Carnegie retired from industry in 1901 and embarked on a radical career change. Until this time Carnegie had spent his life amassing his great fortune, in the latter part of his life he endeavoured to distribute it to benefit the lives of others. Carnegie was committed to furthering social and personal educational advancement. He held a strong belief that money should be spent on education and training to enable and empower rather than as a handout and he believed that it was his responsibility to ensure that his money was used wisely. He worked with local authorities and provided funding for almost 3,000 libraries throughout the English speaking world. The first of which was built in his birthplace of Dunfermline. Carnegie spent his multi millions funding a wealth of projects to further education, the arts and science across the globe. His hope for an end to world conflict spurred him to develop institutions from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which is believed to have been a foundation for the League of Nations, to The Peace Palace at The Hague.

Today Carnegie institutions, both in Scotland and overseas, support community regeneration, further and higher education, scientific research and youth inclusion and empowerment.

In Carnegie’s footsteps

Of the many honours bestowed on Carnegie perhaps his heavy influence on contemporary philanthropists is one of his most enduring. The charitable work of some of Scotland‘s wealthy philanthropists makes headlines the world over. Sir Tom Farmer, born in Leith, Edinburgh made his significant fortune by developing, and then selling, the tyre and vehicle repair empire Kwik Fit. His charitable work includes – amongst many other things – the establishment of The Farmer Foundation which encourages self sufficient development of communities at home and abroad. Farmer chaired the Scotland Against Drugs campaign, provided support to victims of the war in Kosovo and is a Chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which provides positive opportunities for young people in the UK. Farmer is also a major shareholder of Hibernian football club; after rescuing the club from imminent bankruptcy, not for a love of football but because he could see the importance that the team had on the community. In 2005 Farmer was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Another high profile Scottish philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter, who was born in Ayrshire, made his fortune with the sports wear chain Sports Division and later with investments in the property market. He set up the Hunter Foundation to invest money in education and entrepreneurial ventures in his homeland. The foundation transformed 6 of the most ailing secondary schools in Scotland. He has donated generously to larger causes such as Make Poverty History, Band Aid and Live 8 as well as making a tangible difference to the lives of many young people in Scotland. Hunter, who famously pledged to donate £1 billion to charity in his lifetime, counts Carnegie as a major influence in his philanthropic life and abides by Carnegie‘s belief that “a man who dies rich dies disgraced”.

The Carnegie Festival 2009 August 19th – September 05
Venues across Dunfermline