philanthropists and fund raisers in american higher education
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Setting the Stage
At death in 1638, John Harvard bequeathed library and half his estate to new school in Cambridge, Mass.
From 1715-1718, Elihu Yale sends gifts to Collegiate School of Connecticut, which changes its name in his honor
In 1885, Stanford University chartered (opens in 1891) with gifts of unprecedented size by Leland Stanford
Philanthropic Triangle
Vanderbilt University
Central University was chartered in 1872 by Methodist Episicopal Church, South
Project would found a university in the South, "contribut[ing] to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country.”
Library of Congress Image, Old Main, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn..
Holland N. McTyeire American Bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1866
Graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia,1844
Led church movement to establish "an institution of learning of the highest order”
Methodist Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, 1875. United Methodist Publishing House
Holland N. McTyeire Cousin of the Commodore's
young second wife
Recovered after medical treatment at Vanderbilt mansion in New York
Selected faculty, arranged curriculum and set university policies
Chose site for campus, supervised construction of buildings, personally planted trees
Methodist Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, 1875. United Methodist Publishing House
Cornelius Vanderbilt Born of poor Dutch
peasants in 1794
Grew from ferry-boy in New York Harbor to become shipping magnate
Was not a church member
Gave $500,000 in 1875; totaled $1 million by death in 1877
Was his only major philanthropy
Cornelius Vanderbilt. Half plate daguerreotype, gold toned. between 1844 and 1860. Produced by Mathew Brady's studio. Library of Congress.
Vanderbilt University
Consisted of: one Main Building
(now Kirkland Hall) an astronomical
observatory professors' housing
Landon C. Garland was Vanderbilt's first chancellor (1875-1893)
Methodist Episcopal Church, South oversaw from founding to June 1914
Library of Congress Image, Old Main, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn..
Frederick T. Gates Son of Baptist minister
U. Rochester, 1877; Rochester Theological Seminary, 1880
Pastor, Central Baptist Church in Minneapolis until 1888
First secretary of American Baptist Education Society: wrote report on Baptist colleges and need
Advocated a center of excellence in higher education to be located in Midwest, near industry
Frederick T. Gates in 1922, at age 69. Rockefeller Archive Center.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Started Standard Oil Company in 1870, with family and others
First American billionaire
Retired by 1897
Northern Baptist; paid tithing
John D. Rockefeller in 1875.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Had supported Baptist schools with small gifts
Believed in the project of a new “super-university”
Looked at it with business perspective
Assured good leadership, selecting William Rainey Harper
Gave $600,000 to establish U. Chicago 1889 (eventually totals $40 million)
John D. Rockefeller in 1885. Source: The Rockefeller Archive Center
A Unique Relationship
“ Your fortune is rolling up, rolling up like an
avalanche! You must keep up with it! You
must distribute it faster than it grows! If
you do not, it will crush you and your
children and your children’s children!— Frederick T. Gates, to John D. Rockefeller. Gates became
Rockefeller’s philanthropic advisor at age 38 in 1891
Gates: Advice on How to Raise Money
University of Chicago
Founded by American Baptist Education Society
Land donated by Marshall Field, owner of department store
First classes on October 1, 1892 with 594 students and 120 faculty
Rockefeller: "the best investment I ever made”
The carillon tower of the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. Greg Dunham.
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research Gates read about
disease-curing institute in Paris
Proposed to Rockefeller
Consulted leading medical figures
Staffed with best and brightest; $60 million
Now Rockefeller University, has produced Nobel laureates and major discoveries
Rockefeller University, 2006.
General Education Board
Most ambitious of Rockefeller’s philanthropic establishments; tens of millions of dollars
Aimed to improve education in the post-Civil War South, especially for blacks
Tackled poverty to improve tax base to schools by developing agricultural innovation and training
Improved American medical education
Front row, from left: Edwin A. Alderman, Frederick T. Gates, Charles W. Eliot, Harry Pratt Judson, Wallace Buttrick. Second row, from left: Wickliffe Rose, Hollis B. Frissell, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., E. C. Sage, Albert Shaw, Abraham Flexner. Third row, from left: George E. Vincent, Anson Phelps Stokes, Starr J. Murphy, Jerome D. Greene.
Andrew Carnegie Was telegrapher and
invested in railroads
Founded Carnegie Steel Company, later U.S. Steel
Publishes “Wealth” in 1889
Became major philanthropist and advocate of philanthropy
Supported libraries, universities, science, arts, music
Andrew Carnegie. 1913. Marceau, of New York. Library of Congress.
Abraham Flexner In 1910, commissioned
by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to investigate quality of 130 U.S. medical schools
Findings: inadequate laboratories, empty libraries, negligent faculty
Recommended closing 100 schools; not fully implemented
Abraham Flexner, 1953.
Observations
It is all about relationships
Deep personal convictions, often religious in nature, are motivating factors
Involvement/interference in governance and administration is mixed
Do your homework about the cause, the benefactor, and the advocate
Try to solve the complex problems with simple answers
References
Bremner, R.H. (1960). American philanthropy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Lucas, C.J. (1994). American higher education: A history. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Marsden, G. (1994). The soul of the American university: From Protestant establishment to established nonbelief. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nielsen, W. (1996). Inside American philanthropy. London and Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Thelin, J.R. (2004). A history of American higher education. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.