There are heroes who walk among us: the clam digger who rescues a man from a burning retirement home; the dancer who prevents a robber from shooting two policemen at a nightclub; the former Marine, blinded during the Korean War, who saves two women from drowning in a river. What they have in common--besides the willingness to risk their own lives to save that of a friend or a stranger--is an unwillingness to brag about their actions. In 1904, moved by the stories of two men who died trying to rescue others in the devastating Harwick Mine Disaster that killed all but one of 180 men, Andrew Carnegie conceived of a fund to reward selfless acts of bravery and courage. Since its creation 120 years ago, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has awarded more than 10,000 medals and distributed more than $44 million in awards, grants, tuition, and other assistance. Published under the auspices of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, the original edition of A Century of Heroes received an award of excellence in 2005 from Communication Arts and, along with its accompanying video, remains a part of the awarding materials given to each Carnegie hero. Updated and expanded, A New Century of Heroes profiles more than 200 medal recipients: ordinary men, women, and children who undertook extraordinary acts to save the lives of others. It also reveals the tireless efforts of investigators who roamed the United States and Canada, collecting data on the hundreds of nominations received each year for consideration and conducting thousands of interviews with rescuers, witnesses, and individuals whose lives were saved. Their maps, diagrams, and marked-up photographs, many of which are included in this volume, illustrate the high standards and strict requirements imposed by the Commission to ensure that a Carnegie Medal recipient truly deserves the appellation "hero." Only about one in ten nominees is selected for recognition. The heroes featured in this book offer a cross-section of the thousands of honorees who have received the award. They represent only a few of the inspiring stories that uphold the Carnegie Hero Fund's legacy, reminding us that true heroes are found, not on television or in comic strips, but in the uncommon strength that lives inside all of us.
Douglas R. Chambers was hired by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 2002 as acting managing director and immediately assumed oversight of preparations for the Commission's centennial observance in 2004. It was no small task, as it included editing a book on the history of the Hero Fund and producing its accompanying video; orchestrating a dinner and ceremony, which featured noted historian David G. McCullough as speaker; putting together a display of medals from all of Carnegie's hero funds for debut at an American Numismatic Association Convention; and coordinating the production and distribution of a limited-edition medallion, made in the likeness of the Carnegie Medal, to circulate as a cultural artifact. After the centennial, Chambers centered on outreach activities, including coordinating personal presentations of the medal both by himself and by a volunteer cadre of past awardees. Chambers made his last medal presentation in June 2016 before retiring. The book that Chambers edited, A Century of Heroes, received an award of excellence in 2005 from Communication Arts, and it, with its accompanying video, remain a part of the awarding materials given to each Carnegie hero.
The Carnegie Hero Fund may finally get the attention and admiration it deserves. Beautifully designed, artfully illustrated, well-researched, and gracefully written, A New Century of Heroes is a magnificent and inspiring addition to the literature on American philanthropy, the genius of Andrew Carnegie, and the life stories of some of American's greatest heroes, unsung until now.--David Nasaw, author of Andrew Carnegie Stories connect us as people, and those told in A New Century of Heroes are awesome accounts of the best of humanity blossoming in the worst situations. This story of the extraordinary Carnegie Hero Fund and the thousands of people it has celebrated and supported across centuries will inspire, amaze, and further connect us all.--Andrew Medlar, president & director, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh The legacy of Andrew Carnegie comes to life in this inspiring and humbling volume of heroic deeds. The stories within these pages shine an important light on the value and impact of courage, compassion, and altruism, especially in a world increasingly defined by division. This is essential reading for any student of life, and all those interested in tapping into the power of our shared humanity.--Farnam Jahanian, President, Carnegie Mellon University In a time when we are too often inundated with images of inhuman acts, it is refreshing to read the poignant stories in A Century of Heroes. Andrew Carnegie was truly inspired 100 years ago when he created the Hero Fund to "celebrate the noblest, most unselfish behavior of which human beings may be capable."--Bob Kerrey, former US Senator; author of When I Was a Young Man Local heroes may never have been as important as they are today, an era when there are so few national heroes. Today the national hunger for heroes may be best satisfied on a small scale, where a single man, woman, or child may exemplify the selfless bravery America has long honored.-- "Wall Street Journal" Addictive, inspiring, and often moving, the many concise stories of heroism in this book combine with the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund to paint a picture of American civil society at its best. In these pages you will find an elixir that melts away the destructive, gratuitous divisions of identity politics in favor of the common humanity that binds us together. At present, this is not a small thing.--Mark Helprin, author of A Soldier of the Great War, Winter's Tale, Memoir from Antproof Case, Refiner's Fire, In Sunlight and in Shadow, Paris in the Present Tense, and other works If you want to be uplifted, inspired, and heartened by the courage and compassion of the many heroes who have been recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund since its inception, I highly recommend this beautiful book. You may come away wondering, as I did, how many other people out there might be heroes (maybe even you!) but just haven't had the opportunity to act yet.--Dr. Abigail Marsh, author of The Fear Factor
