Carnegie Enhances Legal Education
Early in the twentieth century, rising demand for legal services led to a sharp increase in the number of lawyers, and a perceived decline in the professional standards of many Read more…
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John Sterling’s Golden Bequest to Yale
By the time John Sterling graduated from Yale in 1864, the university had left an indelible mark on him. Upon his death in 1918, three quarters of the corporate lawyer’s Read more…
Mental Hygiene for Children
A $10 million gift from Anna Harkness, the wife of one of John Rockefeller’s Standard Oil partners and a great advocate of civic improvement and self-help, established the Commonwealth Fund Read more…
Desert Educator
There are few institutions that generate more affection in the hearts of donors than excellent small colleges. And no college in America is smaller, nor really more excellent, than Deep Read more…
Lincoln School at Columbia
For three decades, the Lincoln School at Columbia University’s Teachers College was at the vanguard of experimental education. Teachers College was the country’s most influential center for teacher training, and Read more…
Rosenwald Schools
For his fiftieth birthday in 1912, Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck & Company, donated $650,000 to a group of charities. One of the gifts was $25,000 to Booker T. Read more…
George Eastman Puts M.I.T. and Rochester on the Map
As founder of the camera manufacturing and supply company Eastman Kodak, and the inventor of many of the central processes of modern photography, George Eastman was well acquainted with the Read more…
Milton Hershey School
Chocolatier Milton Hershey didn’t invent the candy bar, but he was the first to transform it from expensive delicacy to treat affordable by all, and in the process he became Read more…
Collaborating to Educate the Segregated
In the decades after the Civil War much effort was expended by philanthropists to remedy the educational disadvantages of African Americans. (See 1867, 1902, and 1912 entries.) In addition to Read more…
Support for Teachers
In 1905, Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His foremost aim, initially, was to improve the financial security of instructors. In 1907, he prodded the Read more…
Professionalization of College Management
John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were not direct competitors in industry, but in a sense they were in their philanthropy. In many areas, however, they were in close agreement and Read more…
General Education Board
John Rockefeller’s philanthropy long predates his wealth. By the time he made millions he already had years of giving under his belt, mostly to religious and educational causes. Baptist colleges Read more…
Opening Medical Education to Women, and Higher Standards
Born to the president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Mary Garrett inherited both wealth and a zeal for philanthropy from her father. He had been a trustee of Johns Read more…
University of Chicago
For decades a faithful Baptist, oilman John Rockefeller Sr. aspired to found a distinguished Baptist university. In 1890 he made his first contribution ($600,000) to establish the University of Chicago Read more…
Toward Collegiality on Campus
The success of Standard Oil produced many fortunes and several great philanthropists—including Stephen Harkness. One of the company’s first investors, he ultimately put much of his wealth toward charitable causes. Read more…
Williamson Free School for Mechanical Trades
Philadelphia merchant Isaiah Williamson was frugal and hardworking, and by the 1880s he was one of the wealthiest men in the commonwealth, with an estimated fortune of $20 million (about Read more…
Gifts to Public Universities
Given the innumerable private colleges created, transformed, or sustained by private giving, it is easy to overlook the role philanthropy has played in the country’s public universities. A large private Read more…
Kamehameha Schools
Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a daughter of Hawaiian royalty, was offered the throne of her Pacific land in 1872 but refused it, preferring to pursue good works through her private means Read more…
Stanford University
Within the circle of elite American schools to which it belongs, Stanford University is unique for being situated in the West. While that may not raise eyebrows today, there was Read more…
Catholic Schooling
The first Catholic school in America was opened in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1606. In New Orleans, the Ursuline Academy opened in 1727 and is still operating today as the Read more…