1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, have 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: you ever wondered how Pittsburgh got the nickname steel Town? 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: I have some ideas. It's thanks in part to today's 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: podcast subject. We're talking about Andrew Carnegie, and that's I 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: want to make a note about his last name, because 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: you'll hear it said Carnegie pretty frequently. UM. Carnegie with 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: more of an A sound is also not uncommon, and 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: we've talked about him on the show, and I think 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: we've used probably both of those pronunciations because there's so 12 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: much variants. Um. For the purposes of this, since it 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: is all about his life, we're gonna go with Carnegie 14 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: because that sounds the closest to the way his family 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: seems to pronounce it. Uh. So I might say, we're gonna, 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: we're gonna try to do that. Yeah, But it's one 17 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: of those things where when you have said something a 18 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: certain way or entire life, and then you try to 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: say it a different way, sometimes you mess it up 20 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: and you don't notice until you're queueing the podcast and 21 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: then it's too late to do it over. That is correct, 22 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: and because it isn't of those things like I don't 23 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: think I have ever heard anybody utter the words Carnegie Hall, 24 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: but they say Carnegie Hall all the time. Yeah, same 25 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: same thing. So keep in mind that's just part of 26 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: like that cultural pronunciation shift that sometimes happens. We're going, 27 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: we're going for the correct one. We may slip up. 28 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: But the point is that his life story is one 29 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: that is pretty inspiring in some ways. It's uh the 30 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: story of a child who started out and just abject 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: poverty and then went on to make more money than 32 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: he ever could have possibly imagined when he was that 33 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: child that was part of a family that was really struggling. 34 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: But his life while largely charmed, and I don't I 35 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: don't want to make it sound like he didn't earn anything, 36 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: because he worked really hard and he was really good 37 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: at seeing opportunities and then working really hard to make 38 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: those opportunities work for him. Um, But there was some 39 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: charm in it that those opportunities did come up in 40 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: his life. He did, however, have one sort of massive 41 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: scar of bad judgment in his life. Um. But then 42 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,679 Speaker 1: famously and what he's probably most known for today is 43 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: the fact that he decided that the most important thing 44 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: that he could do with his millions and millions and 45 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: millions of dollars was to give it all away. Yeah. 46 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: One of the things that's really interesting to me about 47 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: him is, like today you will hear a lot of 48 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: people talk about wealth disparity as a problem, and he 49 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: had he had no issues whatsoever with wealth disparity. He 50 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: was like, he just sort of thought that was how 51 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: its life's gonna be. It's no problem with that, but 52 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: that the people that had all the wealth should be 53 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: doing useful things with it, uh, which to me is 54 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: an interesting point of view. Yeah. Andrew Carnegie was born 55 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: on November five and done Farmland, Scotland. His father, will 56 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: Him was a weaver and Dunfermline had been known for 57 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: quite some time for beautiful linen and particularly for its 58 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: damask Lennon. William struggled in his trade as industrialization became 59 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: more and more common and hand loomed goods couldn't keep 60 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: up as steam powered looms became more and more popular. 61 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: The family really struggled to make ends meet, but William 62 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: was obstinate that he wanted to remain a weaver, even 63 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: though he couldn't really support his family doing that, and 64 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: as a Chartist, William Carnegie believed that the way to 65 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: make change was to get working men elected into parliament 66 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: so that they could make change at the legislative level 67 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: that would help working men like him. If you're not 68 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: familiar with the term chartists, that sort of sums up 69 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: the whole thing. It was a national working class effort 70 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: at parliamentary reform. So William and his brother in law, 71 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: Tom Morrison both were committed to the Chartist cause. They 72 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: were organizing strikes, they were writing for Chartist publications, and meanwhile, 73 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: Andrew's mother, Margaret Morrison Carnegie, stepped up by taking work 74 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: mending shoes and running a small grocery to try to 75 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: keep the family afloat. Seeing his parents struggle and also 76 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: living in poverty as a child deeply impacted the young Andrew. Yeah, 77 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: he wrote about it later in his life, we'll talk 78 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: about that, but basically he seeing his father have to 79 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: beg for work really really stuck with him forever. Margaret's sister, 80 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: in the meantime, had moved to the United States and 81 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was there for like eight 82 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: years before it started to become a possibility for the 83 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: Carnegies to follow, and Margaret's sister was writing letters back 84 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: to Scotland assuring Margaret the conditions were far better in 85 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: the US, particularly for working people, and these missives really 86 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: started Margaret thinking about across atlantic move as one of 87 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: the family's few remaining options at making a better life. 88 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: She managed to convince William that it was worth the risk, 89 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: and to be clear, this was a lot of risk. 90 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: Once they got to the United States, they would have 91 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: less than nothing. They had to sell all their belongings 92 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: and then borrow money on top of that, just to 93 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: pay for the voyage. The Carnegie's that's William, Margaret, Andrew, 94 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: and Andrew's younger brother Thomas, crammed into small quarters on 95 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: the Wickessett, which was a ship sailing from Glasgow for 96 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: a fifty day voyage. No surprise, this was not a 97 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: great way to spend nearly two months. Passengers were often 98 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: asked to help out with tasks aboard the underman ship, 99 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: but many were too sea sick or just weak from 100 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: poor nutrition. This was not a luxury cruise. They weren't 101 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: really getting everything they needed. And Andrew would volunteer for 102 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: various additional duties in exchange for favors or a little 103 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: extra food or some other benefit for his family. The 104 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: Carnegiees made their trip across the Atlantic in and Ellis 105 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: Island wouldn't open for another forty four years. The Wickessett 106 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: landed on the southern tip of Manhattan at the Battery. 107 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: They had several more legs of the journey, you though, 108 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: to make by boat. First, they took a steamer to 109 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: Albany along the Hudson River. Then they made their way 110 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: to Buffalo via the Erie Canal, and from there they 111 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: took several more smaller legs to get to the north 112 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: side of Pittsburgh, which at that point was Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 113 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: Yeah that that Allegheny township eventually got absorbed into the 114 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: larger Pittsburgh metro area. But if you look at a 115 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: map and you chart out this route that they took, 116 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: it becomes immediately obvious that it was really a long 117 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: way to do it. Uh. And these were, as I 118 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: mentioned a moment ago, about as distant from luxury cruises 119 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: as you could get. The family was, of course very poor, 120 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: and they were traveling at the cheapest rates that they 121 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: could get, and it took three weeks to get from 122 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: the battery in Manhattan to the Pittsburgh area, a trip 123 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: that today takes about six hours by car or ninety 124 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: minutes by direct flight. Margaret might have had romantic ideas 125 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: about the new life that she and her family were 126 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,679 Speaker 1: going to start in pennsylvani You, but once they got there, 127 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: they had some harsh realities waiting for them. For one, 128 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: the city was already dealing with pollution from industrialization. A 129 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: fire that had ravaged the downtown area three years before 130 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: they got there from Scotland left the city with a 131 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: coat of soot that was still there. Carnegie would later 132 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: write that if you washed the soot off your face 133 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: and your hands, they would be coated again an hour later. 134 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: And it wasn't a place where a newcomer family with 135 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: no money could live in any kind of comfort. He 136 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: described this as a more or less miserable situation. William 137 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: Carnegie did find work. He got a job working in 138 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: a cotton factory, and for a while Andrew worked in 139 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: the same factory as a bobbin boy. He was paid 140 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: a dollar twenty per week to run Bobbin's two the 141 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: weavers as needed, and on occasion to perform maintenance tasks 142 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: on the machines. Later in his life, Carnegie wrote of 143 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: this time quote, it was a hard life in the winter, father, 144 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: and I had to rise and breakfast in the darkness, 145 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: reach the factory before it was daylight, and with a 146 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: short interval for lunch, work till after dark. The hours 147 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: hung heavily upon me, and in the work itself. I 148 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: took no pleasure, but the cloud had a silver lining, 149 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: as it gave me the feeling that I was doing 150 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: something for the world, my family. I've made millions since, 151 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: but none of those millions gave me such happiness as 152 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: my first week's earnings. Soon, the young Andrew moved into 153 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: a different factory job, working with a boiler and a 154 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: steam engine. This was hard work, but it offered a 155 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: substantial rays over being a bomb and boy. Now he 156 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: was making two dollars a week. Through a connection of 157 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: his uncle's, Andrew transition to another job as a messenger 158 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: for the City Telegraph Office in eighteen fifty, when he 159 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: was fourteen. He was a really hard worker, and he 160 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: took these duties very seriously. He made a point to 161 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: memorize all the streets of Pittsburgh, as well as the 162 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: names and addresses of singer recipients that were frequent, so 163 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: that he could be as efficient as possible in his job. 164 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: Part of this was so he could recognize any of 165 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: the gentlemen that might be receiving a telegram message or 166 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: any of their servants on the street and be able 167 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: to hand something off without maybe always having to go 168 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: full distance to deliver it, so he could be way 169 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: faster and get more done. Initially, he was not sure 170 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: if he could handle this job, and in his interview 171 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: he told the hiring manager as much, but he also 172 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: said that he would do his best and that he 173 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: would like a trial, and his worries were unfounded. He 174 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: did really well, and he had moved up to earning 175 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: two dollars and fifty cents a week, and he found 176 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: the position he wrote quote in every respect a happy one. 177 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: He only had one suit that was appropriate to wear 178 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: to work, and it was the same suit that he 179 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: would normally wear it to church on Sunday, So when 180 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: he got hole blade on Saturday nights, his mother would 181 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: wash and press the suit so it would be ready 182 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: for the next day, and he wrote adoring lee about her, saying, quote, 183 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: there was nothing that Heroin did not do for the 184 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: struggle we were making for elbow room in the Western world. Yeah, 185 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: Andrew was very close to his mother, and that relationship 186 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: will be uh really important to how his life plays 187 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: out a little bit later. But even though he was 188 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: working in these, you know, sort of relatively menial jobs, 189 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: even though it had gotten much better as a messenger boy, 190 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: throughout all of this he was really drawn to both 191 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 1: culture and information. So when he found out that he 192 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: would have to deliver a telegraph message to a theater, 193 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: for example, he would arrange that to be one of 194 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: his last tasks of the day so that he could 195 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: then stay and watch the performances. And he also took 196 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: advantage of every possible opportunity he had when he had 197 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: access to books, and he read voraciously. We're going to 198 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: get into his transition in some more lucrative work after 199 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: we first take a little sponsor break. As a messenger, 200 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: Andrew would sweep the office in the morning before the 201 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: telegraph opera readers arrived, and one morning he actually took 202 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: a message that came through when no operators had yet 203 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: begun their shift, and he did a good enough job 204 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: that the operators started asking him to keep an eye 205 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: on the telegraph when they needed to step away. He 206 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: eventually learned to take messages by years, so without the 207 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,439 Speaker 1: help of a running slip of paper to print the 208 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: message out, he would just write it down as he 209 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: heard it. A significant promotion followed when he subbed in 210 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: for another operator on a two week trial, because people 211 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: realized he was actually quite good at this, and he 212 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: was soon given the title of assistant operator and he 213 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: was making twenty five dollars a month. While working for 214 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: the telegraph office, Andrew met a man named Thomas A. Scott. 215 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: At the time, Scott was superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 216 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 1: Scott noticed how diligent and driven the young Carnegie was 217 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: and made him an offer to leave the telegraph office 218 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: and become Scott's private secretary and also run his personal 219 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: telegraph machine. Carnegie was offered thirty five dollars a month, 220 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: and to him it seemed like a fortune, so he 221 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,599 Speaker 1: took this job and started learning about the railroad industry. 222 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: Carnegie was once again doing really well because he carried 223 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: that same work ethic into every position he had, and 224 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: he was making a name for himself at the Pennsylvania Railroad, 225 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: but his father, in the meantime, had not met with 226 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 1: success in the United States. After struggling to make enough 227 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: money through weaving jobs, William Carnegie made a stab at 228 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: entrepreneurship and he tried manufacturing his own cloth and then 229 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: selling it as a traveling salesman, but that really never 230 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: took off. William died in eighteen fifty five when Andrew 231 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: was twenty, and that left the eldest son as the 232 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: primary breadwinner in the family. A year after William's death, 233 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: Andrew started to expand out his business efforts. He invested 234 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: in the Woodroft sleeping car Company with a loan, and 235 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: it paid off. Soon he was making five thousand dollars 236 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: a year from his investment, which was so much more 237 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: than he had been learning from his railroad income. He 238 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: was also promoted to railroad superintendent in eighteen fifty nine, 239 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: and he used his increased income to move himself and 240 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: his mother and to a nicer home. Yeah, there's an 241 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: interesting thing that plays out over and over where he 242 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,479 Speaker 1: starts making more and more and more money on investments. 243 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: But for quite a while he actually still kept as 244 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: much lower paying job, which is kind of interesting to me. 245 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: When the Civil War began, Thomas Scott, his boss, was 246 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: hired by the Union to manage transportation of its troops. 247 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: It was pretty natural since he ran a railroad that 248 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: they were like, hey, why don't why don't you run 249 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: a similar set set up for us? Uh. Carnegie was 250 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: also hired. He was working alongside his boss as part 251 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: of the war effort, And meanwhile, his earnings from that 252 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: Sleeping Car company investment went toward a new business venture. 253 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: He invested eleven thousand dollars in oil in eighteen sixty one, 254 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: and he almost doubled his money in the first year. 255 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: I think he took in something like eighteen thousand dollars. 256 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,439 Speaker 1: From there, he began diversifying his investments further and soon 257 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: he was earning more than forty and dollars a year 258 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: from them. That was a massive sum in the eighteen sixties. 259 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: Andrew Carnegie was drafted in eighteen sixty four, but he 260 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: didn't wind up serving. As part of the draft terms, 261 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: he had the option to pay a sum of three 262 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: hundred dollars or find a replacement to serve in his stead. 263 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: So he opted to pay another man eight hundred and 264 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: fifty dollars to fail to fill his slot, and by 265 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: the time the war ended, Andrew Carnegie had come to 266 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: the realization that the iron industry had great potential, and 267 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: in a surprising move, he left the Pennsylvania Railroad and 268 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: he started a new company in eighteen sixty five called 269 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: the Keystone Bridge Company. Keystone's entire business was upgrading existing 270 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: wooden bridges to startier iron structures, and this proved to 271 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: be extremely lucrative. Just a few years into it, he 272 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: had made himself wealthy. In eighteen sixty seven he started 273 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: the Keystone Telegraph Company, which cut such a lucrative deal 274 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: with the Pennsylvania Railroad to run telegraph wire on the 275 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: railroad's polls that Carnegie and his partners were able to 276 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: flip the business and triple their money in a very 277 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: short period of time. His estimated worth in eighteen sixty 278 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: eight was four hundred thousand dollars, so caveat it is 279 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: always really tricky to convert historical worth into modern value, 280 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: but a rough estimate is that this was about five 281 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,040 Speaker 1: million dollars. He was only thirty three, Yeah, and I 282 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: did want to point out that, you know, he was 283 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: making these deals still with the Pennsylvania Railroads, So even 284 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: though he had left, he really left on good terms 285 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: and maintained business dealings with them for a long time 286 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: that were always quite positive. And riding high on his 287 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: string of successes, Andrew Carnegie decided that he was only 288 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: going to give business two more years before turning to 289 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: a life of philanthropy. He wrote this plan out in 290 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: a letter to himself in eighteen sixty eight, and he 291 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: had calculated out that he could live comfortably off the 292 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: money he had made by allocating himself fifty thousand dollars 293 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: each year and then using the rest of the money 294 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: to benefit causes that he believed in. But in eighteen 295 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: seventy he wasn't quite ready to say goodbye. It's all 296 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: these various industries. That same year, he also met a 297 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: young woman named Louise Whitfield through a mutual friend, and 298 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: Andrew became social with the Whitfield family. Yeah, he was 299 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: interested in Louise, but he was interested in a lot 300 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: of women. It was pretty casual um. But then, when 301 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: Carnegie was almost thirty seven, he learned about Henry Bessemer's 302 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: refining process that could convert large amounts of iron into steel, 303 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: and he learned about that while he was visiting Bessemer's 304 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: plants in England. Carnegie believed so strongly in this process 305 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: and the steel that it turned out that he invested 306 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: all of his money plus alone, so that's a lot 307 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: of money at that point to build a steel plant 308 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. The plant was completed in eighteen seventy five 309 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: and it was named the Edgar Thompson Works after the 310 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: head of the Pennsylvania Railroad. And a teen eighty Andrew 311 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: began a relationship with Louise Whitfield, and this courtship was 312 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: a bit of a May December romance because Andrew was 313 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: forty five at the time and Louise was twenty three, 314 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,880 Speaker 1: but it appears to have stayed pretty innocent, in part 315 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: because Andrew had promised his mother that he would never 316 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: marry while she was still alive. Andrew and his mother 317 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: were incredibly close, and as he became the primary breadwinner 318 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: in the family, he had assured his mother that he 319 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: would provide for the comforts that she had gone without 320 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 1: when he was growing up, so they were together a 321 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: great deal of the time, and his mother, Margaret was 322 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: even known to walk into business meetings along with her son. Yeah. 323 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: I think he was trying to make up for the 324 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: the bad times they had had in the past, and 325 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: so he really was a little bit indulgent of her, 326 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: But he adored her. And while some people might have 327 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: been chagrined at this kind of obstacle, Louise was actually 328 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,679 Speaker 1: in a unique position to understand Andrew Carnegie's prioritization of 329 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: his mother. Louise was also very very close to her mother, 330 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 1: who needed ongoing medical care. In eighteen eighty one, Andrew 331 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: became business partners with Henry Clay Frick by practising a 332 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: controlling interest in Frick's Coke Company. Coke was a coal 333 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: based fuel. That same year, he took his mother, Margaret 334 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: back to Scotland, and he asked Louise Whitfield to join 335 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: them on the trip. His mother, though, shut that idea 336 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: completely down. Yeah, she was not cool with it. Two 337 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: years later, Andrew bought an additional steel mill, the Homestead Works, 338 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: and he also became secretly engaged to Louise in the 339 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: autumn of eighteen eighty three. Content it seemed to just 340 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: wait out the remainder of Margaret Carnegie's life. This is 341 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: something we would describe as in modern terms, not having 342 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: healthy boundaries. Yeah, it's kind of interesting because Louise's mother 343 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: was very close to Louise, but really was kind of 344 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: the opposite. She was like, no, I want you to 345 00:18:58,119 --> 00:18:59,959 Speaker 1: go out and be with other people and live your 346 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,679 Speaker 1: own life, whereas Louise was like, but I want to 347 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,640 Speaker 1: take care of you. And Andrew Carnegie's mother seemed like, no, no, 348 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: this you promised me me first. So three years into 349 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: this engagement, in the summer of eighteen eighty six, Andrew 350 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 1: wrote to Louise, quote, I have not written to you 351 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: because it seems you and I have duties which must 352 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: keep us apart. Everything does hang upon our mothers. With 353 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: both of us, our duty is the same to stick 354 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: to them to the last. I feel this every day. 355 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,439 Speaker 1: An essay written by Andrew Carnegie was published in Forum 356 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: magazine in eight six, and in it he wrote passionately 357 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:43,439 Speaker 1: about workers rights, specifically their right to unionize. That was 358 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: a big year for Carnegie and the writing department. He 359 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: also published a book entitled Triumphant Democracy, and this work 360 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: celebrated the United States Republic and suggested that Great bit 361 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: Britain could benefit from following a similar model to the 362 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: one that was in place in the States. Yeah, it 363 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: was very Uh. It kind of suggested that the the 364 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: United States had become the next step kind of an 365 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: evolution of of Great Britain society, like in going out 366 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: and colonizing. They had kind of gotten to that next 367 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: level in his opinion. Carnegie lost both his brother and 368 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: his mother in a very short period of time. Thomas 369 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: died in October from pneumonia that he had initially thought 370 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: was just a cold, and the following month, Margaret Carnegie 371 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: died also from pneumonia. She had already been quite ill 372 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: when Thomas, who was living in Georgia at the time, died, 373 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: and nobody actually told her of her younger son's passing 374 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,640 Speaker 1: for fear of upsetting her while she was so ill. Similarly, 375 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: when Margaret died, Andrew was sick with typhoid and his 376 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: mother's death was not immediately relaid to him. Uh. They 377 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: actually lowered her coffin out of a bedroom window so 378 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: he would not see it passing in the hallway. After 379 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: Margaret Carnegi died, it removed that obstacle that had kept 380 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: Andrew and Louise from beginning of life together, but the 381 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: couple waited to announce their plan to marry out of 382 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: respect for Margaret and because Andrew was still quite sick 383 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: for a while. But as he later wrote, quote I 384 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: recovered slowly in the future began to occupy my thoughts. 385 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: There was only one ray of hope and comfort in it. 386 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: That comfort, of course, was Louise. And while Andrew had 387 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: spent time with other women, it was more apparent to 388 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: him than ever that she was the one he wanted 389 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: to spend his life with, and their engagement had been 390 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: on again, off again. It wasn't like they were two 391 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: people so passionately in love that they were like anything, 392 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: We'll get through anything. For example, when he wrote her 393 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: that letter and was like, that's pretty much all about 394 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: our moms. That was kind of like a break up, 395 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: a down period. Yeah, it was kind of like not 396 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: really going to happen. And so when he first reached 397 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: out after having this revelation and was like, I am 398 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 1: ready you and me, he was initially a bit surprised 399 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: that she kind of came off a little indifferent to him. 400 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: She had also spent time with potential suitors as well, 401 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: some of whom were younger than Carnegie and closer to 402 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,959 Speaker 1: her own age. But more importantly, she really wanted to 403 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: be an important contributor in her spouses life, and she 404 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: just wasn't sure that a man was so much money 405 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,479 Speaker 1: could ever really need her. She visited him while he 406 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,360 Speaker 1: was staying with some friends, and she saw, in Andrew's 407 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: words quote that I needed her. I was left alone 408 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,879 Speaker 1: in the world. So Andrew and Louise were married on 409 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:34,880 Speaker 1: April seven. The ceremony took place in Louise's family home 410 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: with just thirty guests and no attendants. Andrew was fifty 411 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 1: one when he married Louise, who was thirty. Before the 412 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: wedding took place, Louise actually signed a pre nup indicating 413 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: that she did not want any of her fiance's money 414 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: and that he intended to give her nothing in the 415 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: will other than an allowance to live comfortably. In a moment, 416 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: we'll talk about how Andrew Carnegie's steel mill and homestead 417 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania became the side of of the most violent conflicts 418 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: over workers rights in the United States history. But we're 419 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:06,880 Speaker 1: going to take a little sponsor break before we get 420 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: to it. Carnegie's business interests had continued to yield a 421 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: massive income over the years, and throughout his life he 422 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: had always continued to champion the cause of the working man, 423 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: at least in word. Indeed, the situation was not actually 424 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: so rosy. In seven, the same year that he married Louise, 425 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: Carnegie had friction with Frick over a labor strike. Frick 426 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: wanted to form a coalition with other companies to shut 427 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: out laborers that wanted to strike, cutting off their source 428 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: of income. But at that point Carnegie and not Frick, 429 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: had the controlling share of the company, and he was 430 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: able to force a settlement. But this is really a 431 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: temporary stay in another conflict between mill workers at the 432 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: Carnegie owned Homestead Steel Mill and the management resulted in 433 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: a deadly conflict that contradicted the image of Carnegie as 434 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 1: a worker's rights advocate. The steel workers employed by Carnegie 435 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: and Frick faced incredibly dangerous working conditions for very poor pay. 436 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: Two years earlier, in nine, steel revenues had started to decline, 437 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: and then in Henry Frick slashed workers pay and set 438 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: out to break the steel workers union. And Andrew Carnegie 439 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: was not blameless in this conflict. For one thing, In 440 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: anticipation of the union contract expiring, Carnegie had told Frick 441 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: to increase production so that they would have the leverage 442 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: to shut down the plant if the workers didn't accept 443 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: the new terms without losing any ground in their production schedule. 444 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: Carnegie was in Great Britain as all this was playing out, 445 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: and he sent word to Frick that he supported Frick 446 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: in whatever he chose to do. Frick, embolden by the statement, 447 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 1: severely reduced the workers wages, and the workers who had 448 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: invested so much time and labor in increasing the mills revenue, 449 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: even some of them experiencing terrible accidents in the process. 450 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,679 Speaker 1: We're not willing to back down. Frick declared that he 451 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: would not negotiate with the union and he would only 452 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: talk to individual workers. The dissolution of the union was 453 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: a point in the negotiations that just could not be resolved, 454 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: even after all the others were and then Frick closed 455 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,360 Speaker 1: down the mill and locked all the workers out. Yeah, 456 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: at this point, it was kind of like one of 457 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: those situations where you know, there's a company that people 458 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: have been part of for a long time and they 459 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: feel like they are not necessarily part owners in the company, 460 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: but like that they own. They have a sense of 461 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: ownership over what the company is and the culture and 462 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: and that's really part of why these workers were so 463 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: invested in this. They were like, no, this is like 464 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: our home. We want to make it better and the 465 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: workers actually he tried to reach out to Carnegie, but 466 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,479 Speaker 1: he was on vacation in Scotland and contact just couldn't 467 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: be made. Carnegie had wanted to do away with the 468 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 1: union because they stipulated a need for more men than 469 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,119 Speaker 1: he wanted to pay, and he had left it to 470 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: Frick to organize a new setup, and he didn't think 471 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: the maintenance of a union at the mill was really 472 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: going to be the big issue that it turned out 473 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: to be. So Frick turned the mill into a veritable fort, 474 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: setting up a fence perimeter with rifle stations. Eventually he 475 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 1: also called in three D men from the Pinkerton Private Police. 476 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 1: When the Pinkerton detectives arrived, they were met by a 477 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: full force of mill workers and a twelve hour battle began. 478 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: Throughout this shootout, the Pinkerton's were trying to make landfall 479 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: because they had arrived at the mill on river barges, 480 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: but the workers were preventing most of their men from disembarking. 481 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: The Pinkerton forces actually tried to surrender four different times 482 00:26:57,600 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: over the course of the day that this shootout played out, 483 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: but their white flag was shot down each time, and 484 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: on the fifth try, the surrender was finally accepted, but 485 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: the aftermath was horrifying, with nearly a dozen people already dead. 486 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: The surrendering Pinkerton's were brutally beaten as a crowd of 487 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: reporters and onlookers watched the Pinkerton's left homestead, but then 488 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: Frick called in the National Guard so that strike breakers 489 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,679 Speaker 1: could enter the mill to start working. Martial law was 490 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: declared over the mill, and the strike breaking workforce staffed 491 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: the mill basically up to normal production levels in a 492 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: matter of weeks, but the tensions in the town remained. 493 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: Strikebreakers were refused service in most businesses, and they risked 494 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: being attacked on the street if they actually left the mill. 495 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: An armed organized attack on the fifty black families who 496 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: had moved in to find work during the strike resulted 497 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: in multiple injuries, some of them very serious. The violence 498 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: that started with the Pinkerton's arrival in July of two 499 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: finally came to an end in November after the union 500 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: gave up. Strike leaders were charged with murder, and additional 501 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: charges were leveled at a hundred and sixty of the strikers, 502 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 1: but none of the men were convicted of their crimes. 503 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,239 Speaker 1: And initially Carnegie, who had experienced the worst of this 504 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 1: stuff going on while he was across the Atlantic Ocean, 505 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: kind of saw the union giving in as a victory. 506 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 1: He was at that point able to increase the length 507 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: of the work day and cut wages as the mill 508 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: reorganized post strike to become more profitable. But he soon 509 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: felt regret over what had happened, and particularly over how 510 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: he had handled things, and a letter to William Gladstone, 511 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: Carnegie wrote, quote, such a foolish step contrary to my ideals, 512 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 1: repugnance every feeling of my nature. Our firm offered all 513 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: it could offer, even generous terms. Our other men had 514 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: gratefully accepted them. They went as far as I could 515 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: have wished. But the false step was made. And trying 516 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: to run the homestead works with new men, that is 517 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: a test to which working men should not be subjected, 518 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: is expecting too much of poor men to stand by 519 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: and see their work taken by others. That pain and 520 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: I suffer increases daily. The works are not worth one 521 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: drop of human blood. I wish they had sunk. Yeah, 522 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: he really really, pretty much for the rest of his 523 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: life regretted that whole thing in his part in it. Well, 524 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: and he's also like, simultaneously, uh makes it about him? Yeah, yeah. 525 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: And then also was like, the other men gratefully expected 526 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: these terms, right, well, so allegedly, and I didn't look 527 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: at the financial breakdown, but the terms that he had 528 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: offered in other mills, it seemed like the men could 529 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: potentially make more money, but they would not be able 530 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: to have a union, and that was so important to them. 531 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: Like to him, it seemed like, of course everybody would 532 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: want this, like it's just a union, you don't need that, 533 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: But he didn't realize that that was a vital part 534 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: of their well being as workers. Well, the fact that 535 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: they were working in a very dangerous environment for very 536 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: little pay kind of suggests that they did need the union, right, 537 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 1: exactly exactly, But to him, you know, I mean, I 538 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: think that happens in business all the time, where sometimes 539 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: people at the top of the food chain just look 540 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: at it as columns of numbers, and they don't think 541 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,479 Speaker 1: about like the actual human lives that are involved in 542 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: producing the thing that their company makes, or uh, you know, 543 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: creating this environment where it's actually like safe and good 544 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: to work. Uh So, yeah, I think it was kind 545 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: of that situation. Uh. But despite the horrific violence of 546 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: the homestead strike, somehow Andrew Carnegie's business interests survived and 547 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: even thrived, and some historians have pointed to the fact 548 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: that the striking workers became so violent that they lost 549 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: a little bit of the sympathy in the public eye. 550 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: But his company, Carnegie Steele, was out producing Great Britain's 551 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: in tire steel industry just a few years later at 552 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: the turn of the century. But by hundred Andrew Carnegie, 553 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: who was in his mid sixties, was finally feeling ready 554 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: to spend more time with his family and less time working. 555 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: He and Louise had had a daughter named Margaret after 556 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: Andrew's mother in so even though he seemed to genuinely 557 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: love business, he was also probably in the right frame 558 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: of mind when the opportunity presented itself to sell everything 559 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: he had. JP Morgan offered to buy Carnegie out that year, 560 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: and after thinking the matter, over Andrew Carnegie decided that 561 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: it was indeed time to leave business and begin philanthropy 562 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: and earnest. He had been doing philanthropic works prior to that, 563 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: but he decided that was kind of going to be 564 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 1: a second career. And so he wrote down his asking 565 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: price just on a little slip of paper, and he 566 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: had an employee of his hand deliver it. Morgan made 567 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: no counter offer, but immediately accepted the deal, and bart 568 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: And bought Carnegie Steel for four hundred and eighty million dollars. 569 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: Of that, some Rneggie walked away with two d and 570 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: fifty million dollars. The portion that went to Carnegie has 571 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: been estimated and a modern value somewhere between four and 572 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 1: five billion dollars. Yeah, and that's one of those things. Uh. 573 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:16,400 Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll see it reported a little bit in a 574 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: confusing way, because since there are two figures involved there, 575 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: that four hundred and eighty million purchase price versus the 576 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: two fifty million that was Carnegie's out of that deal, 577 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: you'll sometimes see one or the other just reported on 578 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: its own. So I wanted to make sure we included 579 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: both of those for clarity. Uh. And right in the 580 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 1: midst of this Sellout, by the way, was the time 581 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 1: that Cassie Chadwick was fading to be Carnegie's daughter in 582 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: a massive fraud scheme, and since Andrew Carnegie never really 583 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: knew anything about that until it came to light during 584 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: Chadwick's arrest and her trial, which he did attend, it 585 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: didn't really impact his life. It was not something he 586 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: really thought a whole lot about other than being uh, um, 587 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: kind of amused about it. But I wanted to contextualize 588 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 1: it on the timeline since that previous episode about Cassie 589 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 1: does mention Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie spent the rest of his 590 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: life trying to give away all his money. In nine 591 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: two years before the homestead strike, he had written a 592 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: popular book titled The Gospel of Wealth, in which he 593 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: wrote about the duty that wealthy men have to better 594 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: the lives of people with less. He was intent on 595 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: living up to that writing. He focused on giving money 596 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: away in ways that were enriching and would have lasting impact. Yeah, 597 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: he was He did not just want to hand people money. 598 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: He wanted to figure out how he could build something 599 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:41,160 Speaker 1: into the world that would keep people enriched long term. 600 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: And as part of his philanthropic efforts. He built a 601 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: library and a concert hall in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and he 602 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,120 Speaker 1: set up retirement funding for the workmen under the Andrew 603 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: Carnegie Relief Fund, writing that it was quote as an 604 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: acknowledgement of the deep debt which I owe the workman 605 00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: who have contributed so greatly to my success. He funded 606 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 1: nearly three thousand libraries in the United States and abroad. 607 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 1: The library where I get most of my materials for 608 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,720 Speaker 1: this podcast is in fact a Carnegie Library. He felt 609 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,439 Speaker 1: that with access to knowledge and a desire to learn, 610 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: anyone could become educated, even outside of the formal education structures. Yes, 611 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:24,000 Speaker 1: since that was really how he had become educated and 612 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: become a successful person, he thought like, I want to 613 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: give that avenue to everyone who might want it. But 614 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: he also funded many actual formal institutes of higher learning, 615 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 1: so uh. Carnegie Mellon University is the modern day outgrowth 616 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 1: of a two million dollar endowment that Andrew Carnegie established 617 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen hundred to set up technical schools in the 618 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh area. In nineteen o two, he founded the Carnegie 619 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: Institution of Washington with twenty two million dollars, all allocated 620 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 1: towards scientific discovery, and in two thousand seven this organization 621 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:01,360 Speaker 1: became the Carnegie Institution for Science. The Carnegie Corporation of 622 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: New York was formed in nineteen eleven to give away 623 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,360 Speaker 1: the remainder of the Carnegie fortune, and that entity remains 624 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: and continues to fund trusts and educational institutions. The Carnegie 625 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: Council for Ethics and International Affairs was initially named the 626 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: Church Peace Union, and it was established in nineteen fourteen 627 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,840 Speaker 1: with a two million dollar endowment with the goal of 628 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: finding alternatives to war. The Carnegie Foundation was established to 629 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,440 Speaker 1: build a courthouse and the library in the Hague for 630 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,280 Speaker 1: the permanent Court of Arbitration. That was one point five 631 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: million dollars in funding that was given by Carnegie to 632 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,759 Speaker 1: build what was called the Peace Palace, and the Foundation 633 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: continues that building's maintenance to this day. There are many 634 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: more such institutions funded by Andrew Carnegie than. As we 635 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: mentioned in the Kathie Chadwick episode, You've probably seen a 636 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,800 Speaker 1: building or a school or a library that he funded 637 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: after he retired from business to pursue philanthrop be As 638 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: this second career, Carnegie began writing his recollections of his 639 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,319 Speaker 1: youth and his rise to wealth from poverty, and in 640 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: the foreword to his autobiography, which was published in nineteen twenty, 641 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: his wife Louise wrote of their time in Scotland when 642 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,239 Speaker 1: World War two broke out. Quote, he delighted in going 643 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,560 Speaker 1: back to those early times, and as he wrote, he 644 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 1: lived them all over again. He was thus engaged in 645 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 1: July nineteen fourteen, when the war clouds began to gather, 646 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: and when the fateful news of the fourth of August 647 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: reached us, we immediately left our retreat in the hills 648 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: and returned to Skibo to be more in touch with 649 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:39,000 Speaker 1: the situation. These memoirs ended. At that time, World War 650 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: one was hugely upsetting to Andrew Carnegie. He had been 651 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: so focused on the idea of world peace that was 652 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,440 Speaker 1: a jarring shock to see this conflict unfold. Carnegie was 653 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: willing to put his remaining fortune to work to try 654 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,239 Speaker 1: to end the war. He would have offered Kaiserville him 655 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,480 Speaker 1: the second massive sums of money to end the conflict, 656 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,319 Speaker 1: but President Teddy Roosevelt blocked that effort. Andrew Carnegie never 657 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,359 Speaker 1: fully recovered from this failure, and he's often described as 658 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,720 Speaker 1: having been heartbroken over the matter, and his last several 659 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: years of life. Andrew Carnegie died in nineteen nineteen, two 660 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: months after the Treaty of Versailles was signed. He had 661 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: distributed three hundred and fifty million dollars of his fortune 662 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: and the rest was moved to the Carnegie Corporate Endowment. 663 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 1: And as he said throughout his life, the man who 664 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:30,680 Speaker 1: dies rich dies in disgrace. Yeah, as Tracy and I 665 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 1: have discussed, it's an interesting thing. He is is certainly 666 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: lauded for his great generosity at the end of his life, 667 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:40,560 Speaker 1: but he would not have had as much to give 668 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:47,000 Speaker 1: away had he not been letting people live in fairly 669 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: mediocre circumstances having worked dangerous jobs. Yeah, he's simultaneously advocated 670 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,320 Speaker 1: for the rights of workers. And then like was also 671 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 1: like the people working for him were we're not necessarily 672 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: living comfortably, and his own idea of living comfortably, and 673 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,640 Speaker 1: we said that part about he could live comfortably on 674 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:10,760 Speaker 1: something like fifty dollars a year, like really comfortably, capital 675 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 1: see comfortably. That was sort of a pretty luxurious amount 676 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 1: of comfort. Yeah. Yeah. Uh So, on the one hand, 677 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:24,000 Speaker 1: I'm like, thank you, because there's a lot of times 678 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:27,440 Speaker 1: I have benefited from his generosity, you know, in going 679 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,600 Speaker 1: to a library or also just research that's been done 680 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 1: that we have benefited from. But yeah, a lot of 681 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 1: the libraries are really beautiful. A lot of the buildings 682 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:47,319 Speaker 1: that he funded were really quite spectacularly gorgeous, like he 683 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,800 Speaker 1: had a good eye for picking good architects for sure. 684 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,879 Speaker 1: Do you want to hear about microbiology a little bit? 685 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,280 Speaker 1: I definitely do, because that's in our listener mail today. 686 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,720 Speaker 1: It's our listener Stephanie and she's writing about the Antony 687 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,600 Speaker 1: von Levin Hook episode, and her email was titled Anthony 688 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: von Levin Hook made my research possible. She writes. I'm 689 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 1: an aquatic scientist completing my PhD in Australia. I loved 690 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: your podcast on Antony von Levin Hook, as I do 691 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,480 Speaker 1: a lot of work with microscopes and I love hearing 692 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,439 Speaker 1: about early techniques. I study a group of alga called dietoms. 693 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,280 Speaker 1: They're special because their cell walls are made of glass. 694 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,280 Speaker 1: To our I they look like clumps of brown pond 695 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,960 Speaker 1: scum that you'd find on rocks, but under the microscope 696 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: they're very beautiful. I've attached some pictures I took on 697 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 1: my modern microscope. Von Levin Hook was probably the first 698 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,600 Speaker 1: person to observe diet tom's. Ever, sadly, he wasn't able 699 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,799 Speaker 1: to describe them in details, so he isn't the official discoverer. 700 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: That credit goes to an anonymous person who sent a 701 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,399 Speaker 1: letter of reply to the Royal Society regarding von Levin 702 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:51,720 Speaker 1: Hook's work with a lovely illustration of the dietom table 703 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: area in sevent three. I found this super interesting since 704 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:58,720 Speaker 1: these observations were made more than a century before formal 705 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:03,319 Speaker 1: diet classification started. Uh so cool. I love it. I 706 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,719 Speaker 1: also thank anybody who is working in the sciences to 707 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:08,879 Speaker 1: better understand our world so that we can all better 708 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 1: understand our world together. Uh If you would like to 709 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,759 Speaker 1: write us, you can do so at History Podcast at 710 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,279 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com. You can also find us 711 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:19,919 Speaker 1: on the internet at missed in history dot com and 712 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,920 Speaker 1: across pretty much any social media platform as missed in History. 713 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:25,759 Speaker 1: If you want to visit our website at missed in 714 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: history dot com. There you can find every single episode 715 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: of the show that has ever existed, long before Tracy 716 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 1: and I were hosts, and if you look at the 717 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,359 Speaker 1: episodes that Tracy and I worked on together, you will 718 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:38,360 Speaker 1: also find show notes for those episodes, So come and 719 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:40,840 Speaker 1: visit us and explore some history with us at missed 720 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:48,120 Speaker 1: in History dot com. For more on this and thousands 721 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:58,760 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how staff works dot com.