Exhibition Themes > Philanthropy, Social Services, Human Rights > 79. Andrew Carnegie Letter
79. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Typed letter, signed, to Robert A. Franks. Skibo Castle, Scotland, September 1, 1910. RBML, Carnegie Corporation of New York Archives
One of several hundred letters from Andrew Carnegie to his close friend and financial agent, Robert A. Franks authorizing payments for various charity causes. Franks was the president and director of the Carnegie Home Trust Company (the trust to invest, keep, and distribute the money for Carnegie's pensions and philanthropic activities) and served as a trustee, an executive committee member and a treasurer for both the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching and the Carnegie Corporation of New York until his death in 1935; for some years he was also treasurer of the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America. The letter uses simplified spelling, championed by the New York State Librarian Melvil Dewey and much favored by Carnegie. This spelling was used for all official documents in early days of the Carnegie philanthropic foundations.
Gift of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1990
