Philanthropy

Philanthropy

This source by George Iles from the March issue of The Century, George looks at the large gifts of the philanthropists and other business men of the time. The article opens by acknowledging that massive fortunes have been amassed by American businessmen at the end of the century. However it goes on to almost defend it by saying that it is the result of exploiting the nation's previously untapped natural resources and centralizing tendencies in business that naturally lead to the situation. Then it goes on to say that power necessitates responsibility and that wealth is power so that a responsibility is now placed on these businessmen. George asserts that the reason for the gifts of businessmen is out of a sense of generosity and justice, resulting from the realization that the whole community is in part responsible for their wealth. Finally the heart of the article goes on to describe various gifts and their results on the community, almost all of them educational in nature, before giving its own suggestions on philanthropy.

George Iles

Iles, George. "The Art of Large Giving." <i>Century</i> Mar. 1897: 767-79. <i>Making of America</i>. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

The Century

Dalton Spatz

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=cent&cc=cent&xc=1&idno=cent0053-5&g=moagrp&q1=Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art&node=cent0053-5%3A13&view=image&seq=777&size=100