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Rare Book & Manuscript Library |
Table of Contents
Using the Collection
Note: some material may be restricted or offsite Container ListView All
Series I: Administrative Records, 1872-2008
Series II: Microfilm, circa 1886-1977
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Summary InformationAt a Glance
ArrangementArrangementArranged into 11 series. When requesting material from this collection please request by Series and subseries as well as box number.
DescriptionSummaryMinutes, correspondence, annual reports, press releases, financial records, photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual, digital and printed materials document the philanthropic activities and administration of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The collection is actively growing, primarily through regular document transfers from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Andrew Carnegie's biographical information and personal philanthropic activity can be found in Series VII. In addition, his pre-1911 gifts, most notably his donations for libraries and church organs, can be found on microfilm (Series II), in the Home Trust Company Records (VI.A), and Financial Record Books (I.C.1). Grant files (Series III.A), which comprise the bulk of the collection) provide information on projects and institutions founded, endowed or supported by the Corporation. The Special Initiatives series (Series IV) contains the records of task forces, commissions and councils, formed by the Corporation mostly during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to address specific issues. The Corporation's records include those of other Carnegie philanthropic organizations (Series VI), including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Home Trust Company, both of which shared staff, officers, and office space with the Corporation for a period of time.
Using the CollectionRare Book and Manuscript Library Restrictions on AccessThe Collection is open for research with the following standard embargoes: Series I.A. Board Meeting materials are embargoed fifteen (15) years from date of creation. Series I.E. Staff and Trustee Files are embargoed fifteen (15) years from date of creation. Series III.A Grants, Series III.B. Reports on Grants are embargoed twenty-five (25) years from the date the grant closed. ![]() Please be advised that parts of the collection are housed offsite and we request five (5) days advance notice. For Series III.A. Grants, boxes 1701-2085; Series IV.A CCPDC, Series IV.B CCSTG, IV.C CCAD, Series IV.E TFLPG, Series IV.G MGSSPI, Series V.A Russell, Series V.B Pifer, Series VIII.C. Grant Books, Series XI.A, Series XI.B and Series XI.C are all offsite. Please note that due to the size of the finding aid, some pages may load slowly. In particular, the container list for Series III and the "View all" function may take up to a minute to load. Terms Governing Use and ReproductionPermission to publish and quote materials must be obtained in writing from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Preferred CitationCarnegie Corporation of New York Records. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries. [Series. Subseries. Box Number]. Related Archival MaterialsThe Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University is the repository for the records of four philanthropic organizations founded and endowed by the Scottish steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. In addition to this collection, the records of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), the RBML holds the records of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT), and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA). For more information, see https://library.columbia.edu/locations/rbml/units/carnegie.html. Other related collections at RBML include the Frederick P. Keppel Papers and the Carnegie Corporation of New York Project: Oral History project. Andrew Carnegie Papers, Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Alternate Form AvailableParts of collection are available on microfilm. Please consult the curator or finding aid for details. Digitized material is linked in the container list. All of Series II (Microfilm) and Series XI (AV) has been digitized. Parts of Series I, VIII, IX, and X have been digitizied. A stand-alone website at dlc.library.columbia.edu/carnegie/ highlights digitized content from this colletion, and provides a portal into the Corporation's philanthropy from the 1870s to the 21st century. Ownership and Custodial HistoryGift of the Corporation of New York, 1990. Part of Home Trust Company files were purchased from private collectors in 1998 and 2003. About the Finding Aid / Processing InformationColumbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library Processing InformationEntered in AMC 01/30/91. Processed WS 2000. Finding aid encoded spring 2019 from legacy HTML, Word, and Excel finding documents. Revision Description2017-04-13 File created. 2018-12-12 Series II added 2018-12-27 Series I, Subseries A-D, F-G added 2019-01-11 Series I, Subseries E added 2019-01-11 Series III, box prefix prepended 2019-01-11 Series III.C added 2019-02-06 Series III.D, III.F added; outline of series IV 2019-02-06 Series III.B added from Word doc; sorted subsubseries into one subseries 2019-02-07 Series III.B added from Excel III.B Reports on grants FULL; sorted alpha by title 2019-02-13 Added series II approximate dates kws / jc 2019-03-08 removed temp links in series kws 2019-03-08 Added Series IV.A kws 2019-03-08 Added Series IV.B kws 2019-03-08 Added Series IV.E kws 2019-03-12 Added Series IV.F kws 2019-03-12 Added Series IV.G kws 2019-03-12 Added Series IV.C kws 2019-03-14 Added Series V.A and V.B kws 2019-04-04 Added Series VIII kws 2019-05-07 Added links to archived websites kws 2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration. 2019-06-28 Added Series VII kws 2019-07-02 Added links to digitized material kws Subject HeadingsThe subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives. All links open new windows. Genre/Form
Subject
History / Biographical NoteBiographical / HistoricalCarnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding" is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations. Since its inception it has provided grants for research and educational studies in the United States and, to a lesser degree, in other parts of the English-speaking world outside of the United Kingdom. Carnegie Corporation has contributed to the expansion of higher education and adult education; the research on learning and cognitive development; the promotion of educational and public interest broadcasting; and the advancement of minorities. It has funded the writing of books and studies, as well as the organization of conferences and international exchanges, radio shows, legal proceedings and other activities. Over the century of its existence, the Corporation has helped establish or endowed a variety of institutions, including thousands of Carnegie libraries, TIAA-CREF, the National Research Council, National Bureau of Economic Research, Brookings Institution, American Law Institute, American Association for Adult Education, Russian Research Center and other research institutes in Harvard University, Children's Defense Fund, National Assessment of Educational Progress, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the Children's Television Workshop, and many others. In the 1980s and 1990s, it helped heighten public understanding of the education and health needs of children and adolescents, as well as brought to public attention the risks of superpower confrontation, nuclear war, and ethnic and civil strife. For many years Carnegie Corporation provided financial support to Carnegie's other philanthropic organizations. Through its activities the Corporation has had a significant influence on public discourse and policy. In the Corporation's early years, Carnegie himself was president and a 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 comprised 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-Carnegie Institute (of Pittsburgh) (est. 1896), Carnegie Institution of Washington (est. 1902), Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (est. 1904), Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (est. 1905), and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (est. 1910). Shortly after Carnegie's death in 1919, 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 presidents since Andrew Carnegie have been: Elihu Root (1919-1920), James R. Angell (1920-1921), Henry S. Pritchett (1921-1923, acting), Frederick P. Keppel (1923-1941), Walter A. Jessup (1941-1944), Devereux C. Josephs (1945-1948), Charles Dollard (1948-1955), John W. Gardner (1955-1967), Alan Pifer (1967-1982, acting 1965-1967), David A. Hamburg (1982-1997), Vartan Gregorian (1997-present). |