Andrew Carnegie Memorial Issue 1960

U.S. Deep Claret coloured 4¢ stamp on this cover honors industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The cover was postmarked on the first day of issue, namely on 25.11.1960 at New York.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Industrialist and Philanthropist. In the mid-1870s, Andrew Carnegie opened the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania. The success of this first mill led to the creation of the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892. This was later merged with a number of other steel mills to form U.S. Steel. 

Carnegie used his fortune to found the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Carnegie Mellon University. He also donated money to schools, libraries, and universities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Andrew Carnegie led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the highest profile philanthropists of his era; his 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated wave after wave of philanthropy.

Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States with his very poor parents in 1848. Carnegie started as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (the equivalent of approximately $13.2 billion in 2012), creating the U.S. Steel Corporation. Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall, and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others. His life has often been referred to as a true "rags to riches" story.

Thank you Merja for this very fine first day of issue cover.