Famous Givers and Their GiftsBolton, Sarah Knowles
History
Famous Givers and Their Gifts
Bolton, Sarah Knowles
Philanthropists
Mr. Rockefeller will be long remembered as a remarkable financier and
the founder of a great organization, but he will be remembered longest
and honored most as a remarkable giver. We have many rich men in
America, but not all are great givers; not all have learned that it is
really more blessed to give than to receive; not all remember that we go
through life but once, with its opportunities to brighten the lives
about us, and to help to bear the burdens of others.
Mr. Rockefeller began to give very early in life, and for the last forty
years has steadily increased his giving as his wealth has increased.
Always reticent about his gifts, it is impossible to learn how much he
has given or for what purposes. Of necessity some gifts become public,
such as his latest to Vassar College of $100,000, a like amount to
Rochester University and Theological Seminary, and the same, it is
believed, to Spelman Seminary, at Atlanta, Ga., named as a memorial to
his father-in-law.
This is a school for colored women and girls, with preparatory, normal,
musical, and industrial departments. The institute opened with eleven
pupils in 1881, and now has 744, with nine buildings on fourteen acres
of land. Dr. J. L. M. Curry said in his report for 1893, "In process of
erection is the finest school building for normal purposes in the South,
planned and constructed expressly with reference to the work of training
teachers, which will cost over $50,000." In the industrial department,
dress-cutting, sewing, cooking, and laundry work are taught. There is
also a training-school for nurses.
In a list of gifts for 1892, in the _New York Tribune_, Mr.
Rockefeller's name appears in connection with Des Moines College, Ia.,
$25,000; Bucknell College, $10,000; Shurtleff College $10,000; the
Memorial Baptist Church in New York, erected through the efforts of Dr.
Edward Judson in memory of his father, Dr. Adoniram Judson, $40,000;
besides large amounts to Chicago University. It is probable that, aside
from Chicago University, these were only a small proportion of his gifts
during that year.
An article in the press states that the recent anonymous gift of $25,000
to help purchase the land for the site of Barnard College of Columbia
University was from Mr. Rockefeller. He has also pledged $100,000
towards a million dollars, which are to be used for the construction of
model tenement houses for the poor in New York City.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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