Image: Beth, one of our Museum Assistants
Although our museum is closed at the moment, our team is still keeping in touch and is working together to plan for re-opening our doors.
Some members of our team have been with us for many years and have great stories to tell! Here is our interview with Beth, one of our Museum Assistants, who has worked at the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum since 2006. Beth is great at providing a warm welcome to all our visitors and runs a monthly bookclub at the museum too.
Tell us about how the museum has changed since you started?
Image: The Museum Hall, pre-renovation (over 10 years ago)
When I first started, the museum looked very different from today. Visitors entered from the cottage door and our reception and gift shop was in the current seating / play area. Where our shop and reception are today, there was an exhibition space called The Hall of Philanthropy. Everything changed in 2008/2009 when a complete refurbishment took place.
The museum has always catered well for children with school visits, but over the years this has greatly improved with more emphasis on hands on activities for children of all ages and abilities.
Do you have any favourite objects in the museum?
I have three favourite items on display. I love the portrait in the Skibo Castle alcove of Louise Whitfield Carnegie (Andrew's wife). She appears to be looking fondly down on Andrew sitting at his desk. I also like the desk in the Birthplace room, which belonged to William Carnegie, Andrew’s father. I like the idea of him sitting here doing his accounts. I also cannot leave out Andrew’s favourite mottoes (displayed near Louise’s portrait), and how Andrew adopted them from people who he admired and made them his own. I have had many visitors looking for the quote “Let there be Light" above the entrance to Carnegie libraries in the UK.
What would you say to someone who’s never visited the museum and is planning their visit?
Visitors who come here for the first time are mostly interested initially in the beginning of the Carnegie story, so the cottage is where I would advise them to start. Most are not failed to be awed by the humble beginnings of the man who eventually became the richest man in the world. I hope our visitors leave with a sense of wellbeing and that anything is achievable through hard work and perseverance.
What’s your favourite Andrew Carnegie story? What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learnt about the Carnegie legacy since you started working here?
One of the many Carnegie stories I have read about over the years, about a library in Pittsburgh. The library was free to working boys bound with letters of apprenticeship, however for boys like Andrew (working but not learning a trade or not ‘bound’) - they would be subject to a new charge to use the library. Andrew objected to this by writing to the editor of the Pittsburgh Press and the library fee was eventually dropped. I believe this in part contributed to Andrew eventually funding free libraries all over the world.
Why do you think it’s so important we learn about Andrew Carnegie’s story today?
In my opinion, the Carnegie story is as relevant today as in years gone by. There are still many people today who continue to follow in Andrew' footsteps and some of them are honoured by the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust. I am very proud to be a member of the Museum team.
Thank you Beth for sharing your Carnegie knowledge and your happy memories at the museum!
