Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
Anonymous
Andrew Carnegie was thirteen when his family moved from Scotland. After they settled in Allegheny City, Pittsburgh, he earned $1.50 a week, working twelve to sixteen hours a day in a cotton factory. About thirteen years later, when drafted into the U.S. Army during the Civil War, the young man paid $900 to have someone serve in his place. [A common custom back then.] $900 in 1861 would be $32,250 in 2024.
While working his way from messenger to secretary to telegraph operator, Carnegie built contacts with wealthy businessmen, like B. F. Jones, founder of the steel mill where I eventually worked. Another was Colonel James Anderson who allowed Carnegie access to his private library.
Inspired by the Colonel’s kindness, Carnegie vowed to build as many libraries as possible, to give poor youth chances to develop their minds. Between 1883 and 1929, over 2,500 were built. At one point, Carnegie said, “It is now thirteen years since I ceased to accumulate wealth and began to distribute it. I could never have succeeded in either had I stopped with having enough to retire upon, but nothing to retire to.”
One activity he retired to was the creation and endowment of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. It exists to honor and support heroes and their dependents, including,
- Harry Amster of Clarkdale, Arizona. The meat dealer was 23 on April 27, 1915 when he tried to rescue toddlers from a fiery, wood frame house.
- In Sylvania, Georgia, Quillie Addison [a 36-year-old janitor], saved William Z. Kemp from a home so engulfed in flame, no one else would enter.
- When a 3-inch pipe carrying natural gas erupted, Matilda Aloisio offered her hand and foot to pull Henry Green from the pit of ten-foot high flames.
Nominate a Hero.
Giving Tuesday
Tuesday, December 3.
Succeed and Soar!
Sandra Gould Ford
Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire.
Krispy Kreme’s Butterfly Effect
When Chris Rosati was diagnosed with ALS, he sought to make other lives better.
Through November 7, Save 30% on Photo Books.
Discount Code: PBGIFTS30
Few remain who experienced an old-time steel mill’s awesome, harrowing and magical world. As a young mother, I worked at Jones and Laughlin Steel’s Pittsburgh Works during its heyday when over 10,000 people struggled and snoozed, played pranks and died in that fire and brimstone world. I saw the last steel poured inside those bleak walls.
Steel Genesis Memories of Metal and Metal shares some of my experiences. The books are 8×10, 50 pages. Two versions are available.:
- HIGH-QUALITY HARD COVER. Printed on Premium Lustre Paper. Normally $125. Through Nov 7, $87.50. See book.
- SOFT COVER. Flexible and sturdy, high-gloss cover printed on quality paper. Normally$69. Through Nov 7, $48. See book.
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