In1904, industrialist Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Hero Fund, directing a hand-chosen board of 21 to seek out, investigate, and award individuals who risked their lives to save others. In its founding document, with his wife Louise as witness, he set out 10 directives for the Commission, including this final instruction:
A finely executed roll of the heroes and heroines shall be kept displayed in the office at Pittsburgh.
That requirement was finally and fully met in 2020, with the publication of the Roll of Heroes and Heroines, Vol. 1, and contains a short summary of every award the Hero Fund has made from its first group of heroes in 1905 through it’s 9,991st hero awarded in 2017. Vol. 2 continues with Hero No. 9,992, and includes the Commission’s 10,000th award recognized in 2018.
A finely executed book, located in the Hero Fund’s Pittsburgh office, is on display for visitors, but an electronic version of both Rolls are available to all, below.
Roll of Heroes and Heroines, Vol. 1, 1905-2017
Roll of Heroes and Heroines, Vol. 2, 2018-