By Eric P. Zahren, President of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
Often during my 10-year tenure at the Hero Fund, I have wondered what founder Andrew Carnegie would make of our modern world. Specifically, I wonder how he would receive technological advances and the emergence of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and the myriad of technologies not only born in the last decades but so well represented in his adopted hometown of Pittsburgh. Technology of his time, most certainly technologies employed in the production of steel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a not-so-secret sauce in the astounding career of Mr. Carnegie, who in his work The Empire of Business described his insatiable appetite for cutting edge technological efficiency and the brightest minds this way: “Adopt every improvement, and know the most about it.”
Most notably, the words “Carnegie” and “Tech” bring to mind the higher education school of that very name which Carnegie founded and endowed. That institution, known everywhere in the world today as Carnegie Mellon University, has been at the forefront of computing and the second, “digital” industrial revolution that has come to touch every aspect of modern life. Many would, understandably, fail to include Carnegie’s 122-year-old Hero Fund in that conversation … until now?
Since 1904, the Hero Fund, has fulfilled his vision and devoted its efforts toward the recognition and support, through financial grants and otherwise, of civilian heroism in the US and Canada. Carnegie termed those who would “save or greatly serve their fellows” as the “true heroes of civilization.” He saw individual selflessness and extreme altruism as an important key to understanding the human capacity for glorious and brave deeds, strictly for others, and often at the risk of the rescuer’s life. What’s more, Carnegie dreamed that the recognition of civilian heroes would compel a more peaceful existence between human beings. Carnegie’s naysayers had famously lampooned him for his idealism throughout his life, calling him (among other things), “a fool for peace.” Carnegie once called the North America Fund “the most honorable fund in the world.” Now, after ten years enmeshed in the work of his “ain bairn,” his own child, in Carnegie’s words, you can call me a true believer, and a fool as well. I feel myself in the best of company.
I did not come into the light of our better angels naively. Following a 25-year career as a U.S. Secret Service agent, I came in from the relative darkness of human nature that lives on the fringes and seeks to extinguish the limelight afforded to presidents, kings, popes, and others. Whatever you have read, or even experienced, about assassins (would- be or actual) and their motivations, ideations and world view, it represents but the tip of the hatred iceberg and is always nearby. After all, the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue, where, in 2018, a man opened fire during worship service, killing 11 and wounding six, is always nearby and in our thoughts. Through the work, I am constantly reminded of the reality of heroism and the enduring love of human beings for each other, even strangers. Thank you for that, Mr. Carnegie.
But beyond the dual mission of recognition of and support for heroes and their families, we cannot ignore the human elements packaged within the idea of heroic rescue of others without obligation. Their stories must be told and protected. The Hero Fund does just that, humbly. My friend and world renowned author Mark Helprin wrote in his latest novel, The Oceans and the Stars, that “Even if known but to God, to do what is right will be permanently engraved on the walls of time.” I have repeated these words often as illustrative of the Hero Fund’s important role. It stands, chisel in hand, on constant guard at the wall of time, to share what the almighty knows so well, and that we too often forget.
I have likened Carnegie’s wider aspirations for the Fund to him deliberately setting a mirror before us. In it, through the actions of the extremely selfless, we see ourselves – the good and the bad in us. But peer long enough, and there is hope to be seen. Real hope.
Perhaps of greatest value is the unbiased exercise of the idea of equality in action afforded in every rescue. In each of the more than 100,000 nominated cases of heroic action, the sole perception of the rescuer was of a victim’s life in danger requiring individual choice (both “moral” and “mortal” in nature) and quick action to save a life, deemed by decision as precious as their own. No consideration of race or class, ever. No polling on political leanings. Not once. Regardless of the wealth or poverty of the afflicted. In at least one case, the victim and rescuer were sworn, lifelong enemies before the moment of truth. Just consider for yourself the actions of Carnegie Hero Rufus Combs in 1906:
Rufus K. Combs saved Richard Godson from suffocation, Midway, Kentucky, April 2, 1906.
Godson, 42, entered an underground vault on his property to check on a gas-masking apparatus and was overcome with gas and collapsed. The 8-foot-deep vault could only be entered through a manhole in it’s top. Once in the vault, to exit, Godson would usually stand on a tank and hoist himself out.
Godson was in the vault for 35 minutes before he was discovered. Among those who responded to the scene, was Combs, a 48-year-old local blacksmith. According to the Hero Fund investigation, Combs and Godson were “personal enemies,” and often were rivals for political honors.
Further, Combs suffered from a spinal trouble, which prevented him from continued strenuous exertion. Despite this and his personal feelings on Godson, Combs ran 600 feet to the vault, and without pause, lowered himself into it. He told the Hero Fund that he felt the effect of the gas immediately. He raised Godson’s lifeless body above his head toward the manhole opening. As others above ground tried to hoist Godson, but failed to secure a good hold on him. Combs raised him again, and others pulled him out and then reached in for Combs, who was hoisted right as he lost consciousness, himself.
They were both revived, and Combs was awarded the silver Carnegie Medal. At the time of the investigation, Combs carried two debts, owing $500 on his blacksmith shop and $250 on his home. In addition to the medal, the Hero Fund awarded Combs $1,500 to liquidate his debts.
What we might learn from ourselves and apply even in small ways to the greater good, through a greater understanding of a hero’s willingness to provide their life as collateral for another’s (even a rival’s)! Imagine the ripple effect. Do we indeed hold the key in what is arguably the deepest vein of archival altruistic gold (or silver, or bronze as the case may be) anywhere?
Hero Fund Commission member David Hickton and I have been friends for many years. We were friends even before he became a stellar U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and I the Agent in Charge of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh Field Office. In 2022 or so, Dave introduced me to Jim Roddey, former Allegheny County Executive and Pittsburgh legend, who had been hosting a radio program called “Heroes” to bring more positive stories to the masses. Jim and I became fast friends and collaborators on the radio broadcast. He, to me, was the embodiment of selflessness, service, and the capacity for greater good. As with the heroes recognized by the Fund, Jim never allowed bias or differences to cloud the waters of what could be accomplished, and how we all, even through battles, can smile and respect one another. He was a mentor and one in a million. The Heroes radio program has continued since Jim’s passing in 2024, and still airs every weekend, co-hosted by me and Darryl Grandy, Roddey’s original producer.
Fast forward to late 2024 just prior to a regular quarterly meeting of the Hero Fund Commission. I approached Hickton, by then a Commission member, and asked for his help in getting started on a legacy project to share widely, through modern technology, the more-than-a-century worth of records held by the Fund related to extreme altruistic behavior. The Fund’s records account for well over 100,000 nominated acts of heroism from throughout the U.S. and Canada, around 10 percent of which were ultimately awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism. Quite a large repository, by any standard, and arguably the largest anywhere. With Carnegie’s ultimate vision in mind, and for the first time with the requisite tools available to mine the deep vein, I saw Hickton as the perfect conduit, in his post-government role as inaugural Director of Pitt’s Institute for Cyber Law and Security, a keystone of Pitt’s expanding Cyber program. Hickton was all-in on the concept.
After a day or two, Hickton circled back with the right person for the job – data genius Mike Colaresi and his team at Pitt’s Responsible Data Science Initiative. Responsible Data Science, as I would come to learn, was established by the brightest data minds to work not only in service to data management itself, but in a way that the data would serve a greater societal good. It seemed like a match made in heaven, and the project was soon underway, with funding generously provided by sister institution Carnegie Corporation of New York and matching funding from the Hero Fund.
But what would we call the initiative? That was an easy answer. It would bear Jim Roddey’s name – the Roddey Altruism Program, an overarching concept dedicated to the study of human altruism in all its forms. The initial effort, funded by Carnegie Corp. and the Hero Fund, would come to be known as the Carnegie HERO (Hero-inspired Education and Research Outreach) project. A three-year start now underway, all expect the team to grow, additional partners to become involved, and new data sets to be brought under the Roddey roof at Pitt.
Beyond the construction of an interactive data platform containing all the Hero Fund’s data, Pitt RDS has assembled, with the Fund’s help, a world-class panel of researchers of altruism and human nature from across the U.S. and Europe, including Pitt academics from the sociology, psychology, and philosophy departments, to name a few. They will meet, with other stakeholders, annually.
Hickton later summarized the project as “a novel and ambitious undertaking to unleash the full potential of Andrew Carnegie’s vision” spotlighting heroic acts by ordinary citizens.
“We seek to better understand the common as well as the uncommon characteristics of heroes to better appreciate selfless altruism as an element of shared experience, even in polarizing times. Through a greater focus and understanding that we are all in this together, and that peace and solidarity are achievable,” he added.
In Hickton’s mind, “nothing would be more in line with Carnegie’s virtuous endowment and no greater tribute to him.”
So, through this exciting collaboration, we seek to do no less than improve through technology Carnegie’s societal mirror (quite a thing, to improve on anything built by the king of steel). I think he would be pleased. And with some luck and effort, the world will once again look to Pittsburgh, and Carnegie’s heroes, to learn something very important about itself, and find a way to come together…just in the nick of time.