In 19th century America, Andrew Carnegie not only built the formidable American steel industry, but he dedicated the fortune he amassed to cultural, educational and scientific institutions for “the improvement of mankind.” Recently, sixteen Carnegie descendents visited the Corporation. “Grandpa Naigie," one said, would be astounded at his legacy.

Married later in life, in 1887, to Louise Whitfield, the daughter of a wealthy merchant in New York, he had only one daughter, Margaret, born in 1897. Mr. Carnegie’s belief was that children should earn their place in the world, not inherit it, so after his death, he left no monetary bequests to his family. In his will, he wrote, “Having years ago made provision for my wife beyond her desires and ample enough to enable her to provide for our beloved daughter, Margaret, and being unable to judge at present what provision for our daughter will best promote her happiness, I leave to her mother the duty of providing for her as her mother deems best. A mother’s love will be the best guide.”

Louise and Margaret were both enthusiastic philanthropists, serving on the Corporation board. But at Margaret’s death, the foundation’s connection to the family ended. Recently, the extended Carnegie family—the fourth and fifth generations—had a reunion in New York and visited various Carnegie institutions to learn more about their relative, his spirit of giving and their heritage.

Sixteen Carnegie descendents visited Carnegie Corporation of New York, including Linda Thorell Hills. “Grandpa ‘Naigie’ would be astounded at his legacy of family,” she says today. “He was grandfather to four, great-grandfather to fifteen, great-great grandfather to thirty-one. … All of us grew up with a very low-key approach to our heritage, knowing that who we were and became was very much up to each of us individually, and not a reflection of to whom we were related. Most of our friends have never known our family background.” Linda’s friends, however, have always been impressed by the large and elegant dining table that graces her suburban Colorado home, which is no surprise: it once graced the Carnegie mansion on Fifth Avenue, now home to the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Some of the younger generation bear a striking resemblance to their famous ancestor and are very proud to be a part of his family. As one great-granddaughter said, “He had an incredible vision of what his philanthropy should do. We just hope that he can appreciate, in his eternity, what his money has helped to accomplish.”

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