The President's visit, not to Pittsburgh, but to Allegheny over the
river, had one beneficial result. Members of the City Council of
Pittsburgh reminded me that I had first offered Pittsburgh money for a
library and hall, which it declined, and that then Allegheny City had
asked if I would give them to her, which I did. The President visiting
Allegheny to open the library and hall there, and the ignoring of
Pittsburgh, was too much. Her authorities came to me again the morning
after the Allegheny City opening, asking if I would renew my offer to
Pittsburgh. If so, the city would accept and agree to expend upon
maintenance a larger percentage than I had previously asked. I was
only too happy to do this and, instead of two hundred and fifty
thousand, I offered a million dollars. My ideas had expanded. Thus was
started the Carnegie Institute.
Pittsburgh's leading citizens are spending freely upon artistic
things. This center of manufacturing has had its permanent orchestra
for some years--Boston and Chicago being the only other cities in
America that can boast of one. A naturalist club and a school of
painting have sprung up. The success of Library, Art Gallery, Museum,
and Music Hall--a noble quartet in an immense building--is one of the
chief satisfactions of my life.
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