Gilded Age generosity.(ARTS & CULTURE)

Comments | Washington Times, The, March, 2007

Byline: T.L. Ponick, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES The late 19th and early 20th centuries are regarded by many as the golden age of America's "robber barons": wealthy, ruthless industrialists who would stop at nothing to increase the size of their companies and their fortunes. While there is a good deal of truth in this stereotype, such curt dismissals often avoid mentioning the outsized generosity of many of these individuals, who donated significant portions of their wealth to establish public libraries, museums and other institutions that have become national treasures.

Henry Clay Folger is a case in point. Born to modest circumstances, Mr. Folger, with financial help from his roommate's father, graduated from Amherst College in 1875 and headed off to a...