Carnegie Mellon University - Andrew Carnegie Online Archives

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  • Subject = Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
  • Original Format = Correspondence
  • Subject = Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Finance

About This Collection

This collection contains primary resources about Carnegie's bequests along with supporting explanatory text, that teachers will be able to use as part of their curriculum.
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(Andrew Carnegie to W.N. Frew, July 16, 1906)
(Andrew Carnegie to W.N. Frew, July 16, 1906)
Frew, William Nimick--Correspondence, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Board of Trustees, Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Finance, Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919--Correspondence
A typescript letter from Andrew Carnegie to William Frew providing further clarification about the respective roles of the library trustees and the city of Pittsburgh with regard to library funding and fund administration and explaining the source of Carnegie's concerns about tensions between the library trustees appointed by himself and those appointed by the city. The letter includes handwritten references to related letters in another correspondence collection.
(Joseph Buffington to Andrew Carnegie, Apr. 9, 1906)
(Joseph Buffington to Andrew Carnegie, Apr. 9, 1906)
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919--Correspondence, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Finance, Public libraries--Political aspects--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh, Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Endowments, Buffington, Joseph, 1855-1947--Correspondence
Handwritten letter in which Judge Buffington gives his views on the situation described in William Frew's letter of April 6. He has great faith in the people of Pittsburgh and believes that the issues will be worked out satisfactorily, according to the plan proposed by Frew.
(William Nimick Frew to Andrew Carnegie, April 6, 1906)
(William Nimick Frew to Andrew Carnegie, April 6, 1906)
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919--Correspondence, Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Finance, Public libraries--Political aspects--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh, Public libraries--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Endowments, Frew, William Nimick--Correspondence
W.N. Frew, president of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Institute, writes to Andrew Carnegie describing the relations existing between the library and the City of Pittsburgh, particularly his concern, as discussed with board members Judges J.H. Reed and Joseph Buffington, that the head of the Department of Public Works might assert his authority to discharge the Library's employees and install his own political appointments. Also of concern is potential interference by the city Controller, based on state constitutional law, thus far not observed by the Board, prohibiting any city in the Commonwealth from raising money by taxation and placing it for distribution in the control of a board of commission, such as the Board of Trustees. With the recent election of George Guthrie, a longtime legal advisor to the Controller, as Mayor of Pittsburgh, such interference seems more likely. To safeguard the institutions that Carnegie founded, Frew asks him to provide money sufficient to yield an annual income of $200,000, to be used for the maintenance of the Carnegie Library system as well as the Department of Fine Arts and the Museum of the Carnegie Institute. The fund would be created on condition that the City of Pittsburgh appropriate from it up to $150,000 annually for the Library and that management of the Library remain with the Board of Trustees.