Recalling Andrew Carnegie's generous gift

The Stute was graciously granted access to a rare and delicate piece of Stevens history: The Morton Memorial. This book is a history of Stevens from its inception to the book's publication in 1902. The text was the brainchild of President Morton, who began planning the book during the school's 25th anniversary celebration in 1897. The Stevens library allowed The Stute to examine The Morton Memorial and several interesting pieces of Stevens history were unearthed. This is part 2 in the series.
The Carnegie Laboratory was completed in fall 1901 but its formal dedication ceremony did not occur until February 6, 1902. Carnegie's namesake was none other than the entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was distributing much of his wealth to institutions of learning including libraries and technical universities. The Morton Memorial details some of Carnegie's speech given during the dedication ceremony and it gives insight into how Stevens was viewed by a man who was so influential on our nation's history.
At one point in his speech, Carnegie related a story from his travel in England. "One night [at a dinner] one of [my hosts] rose and said: 'Mr. Carnegie, we have been all over your country and have seen everything; the doors were opened to everybody. It is not the good machinery that we have seen here that surprises us most and which we require most...the class of young men that you get in this country: we know of no corresponding class in England.' Therefore when your President told me about the need of a mechanical laboratory I thought I owed the Alumni of Stevens a great deal more than that laboratory and I asked him if I might be privileged to provide the funds."
Stevens had a gift in return for Carnegie. According to The Morton Memorial, "President Morton then presented to Mr. Carnegie the section of the first T-rail, in the silver casket designed by A. D. Turner and manufactured by Messrs. Tiffany & Co...on the rear side of the box is a picture of the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, and at one end is a medallion portrait of Mr. Carnegie, and at the other one of Robert L. Stevens. On the under side of the lid of the casket is inscribed the following: "This casket is presented to Andrew Carnegie, Esq., by the Alumni Association of the Stevens Institute of Technology, in commemoration of his gift to the Institute of the building for the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, and contains a portion of the first T-rail ever manufactured..."
Carnegie declared the gift "an heirloom, a heritage in our family [that] shall never fail to have a place of honor," and stated, "To think that my name and figure should ever be associated on the same casket with Mr. Stevens!