Carnegie’s Textile Heritage

Andrew Carnegie was an extraordinary Scots-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, emigrating from the poverty of a weaving family in Dunfermline, Fife, in the 1840s, to become the richest man on earth.

In his first job as a ‘Bobbin Boy’ in a Pittsburgh mill (ironically having fled Scotland to avoid the mechanisation of his family loom), he was allowed to peruse a boss’s private library for an hour on a Saturday, thus liberating his mind, lifting his spirits and animating his business instincts.

After a career in the then unregulated arenas of steel, railroads, skyscrapers and finance, selling out to gather his capital, unusually he decided to give it all away. His ‘Gospel of Wealth’ outlines his thinking, arguing for public duty and self-help; ‘he who dies rich, dies thus disgraced’ was his mantra – inheritance tax could be 100%, he opined, suggesting to his daughter ‘I will not burden you with my wealth’.

 

Carnegie chose free public libraries as his main endowment, gifting 2,500 across the globe, offering the capital and build cost, but not the land and not the running costs – he required communities to sign the Library Act, to raise a farthing on the rates to ensure sustainability. Remarkably more than half remain public libraries.

In Belfast there are three – Falls Road, Donegall Road and Oldpark Road, all chosen for the surrounding inequality of working areas, ironically all still areas of grinding poverty, 120 years later. Ireland boasts 66 Carnegies.

In Oldpark the plan is to develop the Carnegie Centre for Weaving, honouring both his own textile background and the surrounding geography of the mills and factories that made Belfast great in the late 1800s; above all the clatter of a cluster of weavers renders the studio space a joy, as tradition is pivoted into lively, creative products; tours for visitors are offered; classes for young people are provided; a textile library is developing, art and music accompany the rich tapestry of weaving past and present, all on the jagged peace lines of our contested city!

We need help to develop our business plan, undertake surveys and studies, raise upwards of £2m for reconstruction, record our past and build an innovative future with volunteers, trustees and professional services.

Come join us now!