Andrew Carnegie Foundation

The Andrew Carnegie Foundation, historically known as Carnegie Corporation of New York, is an American private philanthropic foundation created by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1911. Its founding purpose was to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Unlike a commercial brand, the foundation operates as a grant-making institution: it supports research, educational institutions, public-policy work, democratic development, and organizations intended to extend the reach of knowledge beyond the academy. Carnegie established the corporation after having already endowed several major institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom and funded thousands of public libraries. Having sold Carnegie Steel and retained a substantial fortune, he transferred most of his remaining wealth into the new corporation and also named it a residual beneficiary of his estate. Its original endowment made it the largest single philanthropic trust of its time. Carnegie deliberately granted its trustees broad discretion, asking them to use their own judgment rather than simply perpetuate a fixed list of projects. During its early decades, the foundation continued Carnegie's support for public libraries, universities, schools, educational agencies, and other Carnegie institutions. Its priorities gradually broadened from constructing physical library facilities to improving library systems, adult education, teacher preparation, scientific research, social science, international and area studies, and the communication of research to public decision-makers. The foundation helped establish or strengthen institutions including the National Research Council, the Russian Research Center at Harvard University, the Carnegie libraries, the University of Chicago Graduate Library School, and the Educational Testing Service. It also provided support to related Carnegie organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. The foundation's twentieth-century work often used research and seed funding to influence wider institutional development. Under Frederick P. Keppel it emphasized library infrastructure, adult education, and arts education, while also supporting studies of race, poverty, and education. Its sponsorship of Gunnar Myrdal's research contributed to the publication of American Dilemma, a major study later cited in debates and legal challenges concerning racial segregation. Under Charles Dollard and John W. Gardner, the foundation increased its support for quantitative social science, international and area studies, higher education in Africa, continuing education, behavioral research, and leadership development. The White House Fellows program was among the initiatives associated with Gardner's leadership. Its international activity has included grants and institutional support in Africa, research on higher education in Nigeria, and work connected with the former British Commonwealth. The foundation withdrew philanthropic activity from South Africa for more than two decades after the apartheid system was implemented in the early 1950s, redirecting attention toward universities and educational development elsewhere in Africa. In the contemporary period, the foundation remains a grant-making organization rather than a producer of consumer products. Its broad areas of concern include education, international peace and understanding, democracy, civic institutions, and the production and use of reliable knowledge. The organization has also been associated with large-scale philanthropic support for institutions that operate independently under their own names. Its historical importance lies not only in the grants it made directly, but also in the universities, research bodies, cultural organizations, and policy networks that it helped create or expand. The foundation's public identity…

Andrew Carnegie created the foundation in 1911 after decades of large-scale personal giving. By that time he had already established or endowed several organizations and had financed public libraries across the United States and the United Kingdom. Carnegie's decision to place most of his remaining fortune in a corporation reflected his desire to create a durable institution capable of distributing wealth after his death. The corporation received approximately $125 million from Carnegie during 1911 and 1912 and later received an additional residual inheritance under his will. The foundation's original charter expressed a broad mission: advancing and diffusing knowledge and understanding. Carnegie also gave the trustees considerable discretion. Early grants continued his established interests in libraries, education, universities, schools, church organs, and other Carnegie institutions. The corporation's board initially included representatives connected with several organizations Carnegie had previously founded, including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. After Carnegie's death in 1919, the corporation adopted a more conventional executive structure with a full-time salaried president. During the presidency of Frederick P. Keppel from 1923 to 1941, the foundation moved beyond the construction of individual libraries and concentrated increasingly on library systems, professional services, adult education, and arts education. Keppel helped establish the American Association of Adult Education and supported the Harlem Experiment, an adult-education initiative serving African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. The foundation also funded educational development and library work in parts of Africa. The corporation's South African work during this era included the Carnegie Commission on the Poor White Problem, established in 1928. The resulting study addressed poverty among white South Africans but was framed through the racial assumptions of its time and included recommendations aimed at preserving racial hierarchy. After the apartheid-era Group Areas Act took effect in 1951, the corporation withdrew its philanthropic activity from South Africa for more than two decades and redirected attention toward educational development in East and West Africa. Keppel also commissioned Gunnar Myrdal's major study of race relations in the United States. The resulting book, American Dilemma, was published in 1944 and later became an important reference in public and legal debates about segregation and racial inequality. The project exemplified the corporation's growing preference for producing independent research that could inform public discussion rather than prescribing a single administrative solution. Under Charles Dollard, who became president in 1948, the foundation placed greater emphasis on empirical social science, behavioral research, educational measurement, and the dissemination of findings through universities and professional institutions. The foundation supported work connected with the creation of the Educational Testing Service and provided seed money for the Russian Research Center at Harvard, now known as the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. It also funded research institutions and programs in economics, international affairs, and the natural and social sciences. John W. Gardner became president in 1955 and expanded work in foreign-area studies, liberal-arts education, continuing education, behavioral science, cognition, creativity, and learning. Grants to institutions including the University of Minnesota, Radcliffe College, and Sarah Lawrence College supported early experiments in continuing education for mature women. Gardner's interest in leadership development was also connected with the creation of the White House Fellows program in 1964. The corporation's support for studies of American secondary education, including work associated with James B. Conant, contributed to debates over comprehensive high schools and the education of both average and academically advanced students. Across later decades, the foundation became associated with strategic philanthropy: identifying problems, funding research or pilot programs, communicating findings, and seeking institutions or governments able to scale promising approaches. This approach allowed a relatively small grant-making body to influence universities, public agencies, research networks, educational systems, and international-policy institutions. The foundation's legacy includes direct grants as well as support for organizations that became independent and nationally or internationally significant.

1. 1964White House Fellows program associated with Gardner era

   The foundation's leadership-development interests under John W. Gardner were connected with the establishment of the White House Fellows program.

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2. 1959Nigerian higher-education study supported

   The Ashby Commission study of Nigeria's postsecondary education needs received support and helped stimulate broader international assistance for African higher education.

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3. 1951South African grant activity suspended

   After the apartheid system was implemented through measures including the Group Areas Act, the corporation withdrew philanthropic activity from South Africa for more than two decades.

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4. 1948Harvard Russian Research Center supported

   The corporation provided seed funding for Harvard University's Russian Research Center, now the Davis Center for Russia and Eurasian Studies.

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5. 1947Educational Testing Service created

   The corporation helped broker the creation of the Educational Testing Service as part of its interest in educational measurement and standardized assessment.

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6. 1944American Dilemma published

   Gunnar Myrdal's study of race and American democracy was published and later cited in legal and public-policy debates concerning segregation.

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7. 1937Myrdal race-relations study commissioned

   The corporation commissioned Gunnar Myrdal to lead a major study of race relations in the United States, later published as American Dilemma.

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8. 1928South African poverty commission initiated

   The corporation initiated the Carnegie Commission on the Poor White Problem in South Africa, producing a study shaped by the racial politics and assumptions of its period.

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9. 1926Harlem Experiment supported

   The foundation supported an adult-education initiative in Harlem that sought to expand educational opportunities for African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance.

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10. 1919Post-Carnegie executive structure introduced

    Following Carnegie's death, trustees appointed a full-time salaried president to lead the corporation as its chief executive.

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11. 1917Early library and education grant era concluded

    The corporation continued Carnegie's direct support for public libraries and related educational projects through this period before shifting toward broader institutional and research strategies.

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12. 1911Foundation established

    Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Corporation of New York in New York State as a permanent philanthropic corporation with a broad mission to advance and diffuse knowledge and understanding.

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13. 1911Initial endowment transferred

    Carnegie began transferring approximately $125 million to the corporation during 1911–1912, making it the largest single philanthropic trust of its era.

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A long-standing, research-oriented philanthropic foundation that uses grants, institutional partnerships, and knowledge production to strengthen education, democratic life, international understanding, and public-interest institutions.

• Philanthropic grantsGrant-making1911

  The foundation's principal offering is financial support for nonprofit organizations, universities, researchers, and public-interest initiatives. Grants have historically addressed education, libraries, international affairs, democratic institutions, social science, leadership, and the communication of knowledge. Rather than selling a standardized service, the foundation uses selective grants and institutional partnerships to develop ideas, strengthen organizations, and encourage approaches that may later be adopted or expanded by governments and larger funders.

• Institutional seed fundingInstitution building1911

  A recurring feature of the foundation's work has been early or catalytic support for institutions that later became independent organizations or durable academic programs. Examples associated with its history include support for the National Research Council, Harvard's Russian Research Center, the Educational Testing Service, Carnegie-related institutions, and educational programs in Africa. The objective is to supply initial capacity, research infrastructure, or legitimacy rather than to operate each institution permanently.

• Education and lifelong-learning initiativesEducation philanthropy1911

  Education has remained a central area of activity, evolving from public-library construction and school support toward adult education, teacher and professional preparation, educational assessment, higher education, continuing education, and studies of school organization. Historical initiatives included the American Association of Adult Education, the Harlem Experiment, support for continuing education for mature women, and research on comprehensive secondary schools.

• International peace and democratic-development supportInternational philanthropy1911

  The foundation has supported international and area studies, policy expertise, higher education in Africa, and organizations concerned with international peace and understanding. Its international work has included support for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and research centers designed to connect scholarship with public policy. The foundation generally acts through grants and institutional partnerships rather than direct diplomatic or governmental operations.

• 1955Expansion of strategic research philanthropyStrategy

  The foundation increasingly sought research that could clarify public problems and inform institutions, policymakers, and educators.

  What changed. During John W. Gardner's presidency, it expanded support for behavioral science, foreign-area studies, liberal-arts education, continuing education, leadership development, and research on learning and cognition.

  Aftermath. The foundation strengthened its identity as a catalytic funder of research and institutional innovation with potential for wider adoption.

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• 1951Withdrawal from South African philanthropyStrategy

  The introduction of apartheid legislation, including the Group Areas Act, changed the political and social environment in South Africa.

  What changed. The corporation suspended its philanthropic activity in South Africa for more than two decades and redirected attention toward educational development in East and West Africa.

  Aftermath. The decision marked a major geographical reorientation of the foundation's African work during the apartheid period.

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• 1923Shift toward library systems, adult education, and institutional developmentStrategy

  By the 1920s, the corporation's work was moving beyond direct construction of individual public libraries toward strengthening library services, adult education, and educational infrastructure.

  What changed. Under Frederick P. Keppel, the foundation emphasized library networks, adult-learning organizations, arts education, and strategically selected research and demonstration projects.

  Aftermath. The corporation became more focused on building organizations and disseminating knowledge rather than simply funding physical facilities.

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• 1911Creation of a permanent philanthropic corporationStrategy

  Andrew Carnegie had already made extensive charitable gifts and established several institutions, but still held a large remaining fortune. He sought a durable structure that could distribute his wealth after his death while allowing trustees to respond to changing social needs.

  What changed. Carnegie transferred most of his remaining fortune to Carnegie Corporation of New York and gave its trustees broad discretion to advance knowledge and understanding.

  Aftermath. The corporation became one of the largest philanthropic trusts of its era and developed into a major funder of libraries, education, research, international studies, and democratic institutions.

  Initial transfers to the corporation. Approximately US$125 million transferred during 1911–1912 (1911–1912)

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1. Andrew Carnegie Foundation
2. Carnegie Corporation of New York