Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919; Industrialists -- United States -- Biography; Philanthropists -- United States -- Biography
The audience was deeply impressed, as well it might be. St. Andrews
University, the first to confer the degree upon the great-grandfather,
conferred the same degree upon the great-grandchild one hundred and
forty-seven years later (and this upon her own merits as Dean of
Radcliffe College); sent it across the Atlantic to be bestowed by the
hands of its Lord Rector, the first who was not a British subject, but
who was born one as Franklin was, and who became an American citizen
as Franklin did; the ceremony performed in Philadelphia where Franklin
rests, in the presence of a brilliant assembly met to honor his
memory. It was all very beautiful, and I esteemed myself favored,
indeed, to be the medium of such a graceful and appropriate ceremony.
Principal Donaldson of St. Andrews was surely inspired when he thought
of it!
My unanimous reelection by the students of St. Andrews, without a
contest for a second term, was deeply appreciated. And I liked the
Rector's nights, when the students claim him for themselves, no member
of the faculty being invited. We always had a good time. After the
first one, Principal Donaldson gave me the verdict of the Secretary as
rendered to him: "Rector So-and-So talked _to_ us, Rector Thus-and-So
talked _at_ us, both from the platform; Mr. Carnegie sat down in our
circle and talked _with_ us."
The question of aid to our own higher educational institutions often
intruded itself upon me, but my belief was that our chief
universities, such as Harvard and Columbia, with five to ten thousand
students,[49] were large enough; that further growth was undesirable;
that the smaller institutions (the colleges especially) were in
greater need of help and that it would be a better use of surplus
wealth to aid them. Accordingly, I afterwards confined myself to these
and am satisfied that this was wise. At a later date we found Mr.
Rockefeller's splendid educational fund, The General Education Board,
and ourselves were working in this fruitful field without
consultation, with sometimes undesirable results. Mr. Rockefeller
wished me to join his board and this I did. Cooeperation was soon found
to be much to our mutual advantage, and we now work in unison.
[Footnote 49: Columbia University in 1920 numbered all told some
25,000 students in the various departments.]
In giving to colleges quite a number of my friends have been honored
as was my partner Charlie Taylor. Conway Hall at Dickinson College,
was named for Moncure D. Conway, whose Autobiography, recently
published, is pronounced "literature" by the "Athenaeum." It says:
"These two volumes lie on the table glistening like gems 'midst the
piles of autobiographical rubbish by which they are surrounded." That
is rather suggestive for one who is adding to the pile.
The last chapter in Mr. Conway's Autobiography ends with the following
paragraph:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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