Carnegie Corporation of New York

The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a nonprofit organization in the United States.

History

When Carnegie Corporation was founded in 1911, Andrew Carnegie had already endowed five organizations in the United States and three in the United Kingdom, giving away over $43 million for public library buildings and close to $110 million for other worthy purposes. Yet 10 years after the sale of the Carnegie Steel Company, he still had more than $150 million, and at age 76, was tiring of the burden of philanthropic decision-making.

On the advice of his long-time friend Elihu Root, a Nobel Prize-winner and adviser to several U.S. presidents, Carnegie decided to establish a trust to which he could transfer most of his remaining fortune, and that would distribute his wealth even after his death. He chose the name "Carnegie Corporation", having already used most of the conventional labels for his previously endowed institutions. The State of New York issued a charter to Carnegie Corporation of New York, with the mandate to “promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding among the people of the United States.” During 1911 and 1912, Carnegie gave the Corporation $125 million, making it the largest single philanthropic trust ever established up to that time. After Carnegie’s death in 1919, the Corporation received an additional $10,336,868 when the estate was settled. Since then, the initial endowment of over $135 million has increased in value to over $2 billion, and the Corporation has spent roughly $2 billion in nominal terms – 16 times its original endowment – carrying out its mission.

Carnegie himself was the Corporation’s first president and trustee. James Bertram, his private secretary, and Robert A. Franks, his financial agent, were also trustees and, respectively, secretary and treasurer of the Corporation. These three constituted the first executive committee and made most of the funding decisions. The other seats on the board were held ex officio by the presidents of the five previously established Carnegie organizations in the United States. Shortly after Carnegie’s death, the trustees elected a full-time salaried president as chief executive officer of the Corporation and made him an ex officio member of the board. The following men have served as president: Elihu Root: 1919-1920, James R. Angell, 1920-21, Henry S. Pritchett, 1921-23 (acting), Frederick P. Keppel, 1923-41, Walter A. Jessup, 1941-44,
Devereux C. Josephs, 1945-48, Charles Dollard, 1948-55, John W. Gardner, 1955-67,
Alan Pifer, 1967-82 (acting, 1965-67), David A. Hamburg, 1982-1997,
Vartan Gregorian 1997-.

Early grants emulated Carnegie’s personal philanthropies, including gifts for the construction of public libraries and for the purchase of church organs. Other Carnegie organizations in the United States received substantial grants for their programs, as did universities, colleges, schools and educational agencies. Carnegie also earmarked a portion of the endowment, which has since been fixed at 7.4 percent of the total, to be used for philanthropic purposes in countries of the British Commonwealth. (This stipulation was later amended to include countries in the Commonwealth as of 1948, after which membership no longer required allegiance to Britain.)

The Corporation’s priorities for grant making, while always remaining broadly educational, have changed over the years, which was Carnegie’s intention. In his letter of gift to his original trustees, he wrote, using the simplified spelling that he favored,

The Corporation’s grant programs have focused, among other concerns, on the library field; adult, continuing, and nontraditional education; strengthening of African universities as agents in national development; the higher education system of the United States; and cognitive development and learning of preschool children. One of the best-known projects initiated by the Corporation is the educational television program, Sesame Street. Under Gregorian’s leadership, programs have focused on Education, International Development, International Peace and Security and Strengthening U.S. Democracy. While this and other projects grew out of Corporation activities, most grants are made in response to proposals submitted by universities, associations, organizations or other institutions whose goals are consistent with current priorities of the foundation.

Today, Carnegie Corporation’s board has 20 members, on average, with the president as the only ex-officio member, and an executive and support staff of approximately 75 people. The board’s role, as described in a 1971 trustee committee statement is, in part:

Each program officer and several of the other executive staff members review grant proposals and make recommendations in specific fields of interest, but the entire executive staff participates in the process of setting priorities and making recommendations to the board. Grants of $50,000 or less may be made at the staff level and “at the discretion of the president.” Larger grants recommended by the staff are voted on by the board. The Corporation publishes annual and quarterly reports of its activities and the Carnegie Reporter, a biannual magazine that serves as an avenue for important ideas and a hub for the work of the Corporation and other foundations.

Programs

The Carnegie Corporation is best known for issuing grants for PBS children's programs, such as "Sesame Street", "The Electric Company", "Between the Lions", "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "ZOOM".

Leadership

* President: Vartan Gregorian
* Board of Trustees Chair: Thomas H. Kean "
* Among other recent chairs has been Newton Minow, who was a former U.S. Federal Communications Commission chair.

Institutions which have received grants from the Carnegie Corporation

*Carnegie Mellon University
*Sesame Workshop
*Massachusetts Institute of Technology
*NZCER

ee also

* Carnegie Commission on the Poor White Problem in South Africa

External links

* [http://www.carnegie.org/ Carnegie Corporation of New York]
* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/rbml/collections/carnegie/CCNYhistory.html/ History of the Carnegie Corporation of New York]
* [http://www.questionsquestions.net/feldman/ff_divest.html Time For Ford Foundation & CFR To Divest?] Collaboration of the Rockefeller, Ford and Carnegie Foundations with the Council on Foreign Relationshttp://www.carnegie.org/pdf/carnegie_trusts_Inst_small_low.pdf