Endowments; Adult education; Technical institutes; New York (N.Y.); Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between November 29, 1899 and April 28, 1903]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 82
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
Contribution toward deficit
Both Cooper and Carnegie believed in the responsibility of wealthy men to provide for the education of the poor. Carnegie famously wrote the Gospel of Wealth in 1889, citing Peter Cooper’s Cooper Institute as an example of using wealth to elevate the poor by giving them the means to improve their lives. They admired one another and became personal friends. After Cooper died in 1883, Carnegie developed a relationship with Abram Stevens Hewitt, Cooper’s son-in-law... In 1901, Carnegie made a gift of $100,000 to the Cooper Union, a testament to his admiration for Peter Cooper and Hewitt’s accomplishments for the Institute. Hewitt gratefully accepted this gift, telling Carnegie that it would be the beginning of a fund to benefit the Institute. When Carnegie realized that his gift was inadequate for the need, he replied, 'I did not understand the case. Let me give $300,000.' (Equivalent to $811,000 in 2018). Not long after that, Hewitt and Carnegie met again, and, realizing the great financial requirement of the Institute, Carnegie gave an additional $300,000 on the condition that the Cooper-Hewitt families match this gift. And they did. These new gifts made it possible for the Cooper Union to enlarge their curriculum and increase the size of their facility. Additional gifts came to Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt for their museum, where Andrew Carnegie served as an advisor.." [SOURCE: Masinter, Margery. "Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: The Hewitts & The Carnegies." Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 5 Jun. 2018, https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2018/06/05/cooper-hewitt-short-stories-the-hewitts-the-carnegies. Accessed 7 Nov. 2018.]