The Bulletin -- April 28, 2010 (#1037)

DR. JOSEPH BURKE, AUTHOR OF “WILLIAM MINER: THE MAN AND THE MYTH”, SIGNS STEPHENS MUNDY’S COPY.

Program: Dr. Joseph Burke on William Miner and Modern American Philanthropy.

Dr. Joseph Burke, past President and Provost of SUNY Plattsburgh and current chairman at Miner Institute in Chazy, NY, has compiled the rich history of William Miner into his new book entitled: “William Miner: The Man and the Myth.” In 550 pages, Burke captures the life of William Miner, his tribulations and ultimately his many successes.

Burke began by stating, “William Miner’s life from 1862 to 1930 showed that success in America could depend not on who you were, but what you could do.” And Miner could do it all; he wore many hats. He was a self made businessman, inventor, agriculturist, educator, engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

At a young age he moved west to become a bridge carpenter for the railroad. Going to business school at night, Miner began working his way up an impressive career ladder. He was a chief draftsman, superintendent of a car plant, and master builder of a refrigerator car company in Chicago. At 29 years old, Miner invented a piece of train equipment that would revolutionize the railroad world.

William Miner returned to the North Country and began to give back. Burke explained that a few of his endeavors included, a 15,000 acre experimental farm (The Miner Institute), a model rural school, state of the art hospital, the Kent Delord House, and the William H. Miner Foundation.

Burke said, “Miner wanted the Champlain Valley to be not just lovely to look at by visitors, but a great place for residents to live. He anticipated the methods for modern philanthropy that included a dramatic shift in private giving to public schools.” Many of today’s foundations such as the Bill and Linda Gates and Annie E. Casey follow much the same philanthropic philosophy as William Miner did.
His hands-on approach and do-it-yourself but do-it-for-others attitude was key to his success. Miner never put his name on his philanthropy; forbidding buildings to be named after him. When Carnegie, Ford and Rockefeller where giving bits of their fortunes, Miner believed that a true philanthropist should never die wealthy. Unfortunately, Miner’s gifts to Chazy, the schools and the community strained his finances.

Despite having the William H. Miner Foundation in place and allowing it to sustainably support Miner’s three major projects (Chazy School, the hospital and the agricultural college/research institute), Miner insisted on providing the majority of the funding for his three major projects himself. According to Burke, it turned out to be a fatal flaw. He explains that no private citizen, regardless of how wealthy they are, can fund three projects of this caliber into perpetuity. Furthermore, having a single donor in this way puts decision making into few hands rather than into the hands of the community.

While some think such fiscal irresponsibility diminished Miner’s philanthropic work, Burke says that it doesn’t touch the man Miner was. Miner had the right ideas but the wrong methods. He did great things for the Champlain Valley; however, something was missing. Burke described the missing component as being a way to make the gifts Miner gave participatory and not just Miner’s. While people were pleased with the gifts, they often resented their dependence on Miner.

In the end, William Miner “built it better than he knew.” Over time, the residents of Chazy and the people of the Champlain Valley turned Miner’s gift into a lasting one by making it their own. Burke said that is the essence of modern American philanthropy and it lives on in the North Country.

New Member Carol Blakeslee-Collin grew up in Windom, N.Y. where her father was the town doctor and her mother a transplant from Chicago. Ambitious as a teen and with high expectations, she set off for Trinity College. During a year abroad in Spain, Carol taught skiing, which lead to teaching skiing in Argentina down the line. After recovering from a serious car accident, Carol became an intern at a local TV station. It led to other work including a job with a PBS station where she worked on political pieces and befriended Wallace Westfeldt, then executive producer. Carol followed Westfeldt to ABC and ended up at 20/20 for a few years. A mid-career scholarship to the University of Chicago lead her to study politics, theology, and history. She met her husband, Jim, and they moved to Washington, D.C. She spent the next 21 years at The News Hour covering defense, the Cold War, the environment and politics before asking to be moved to cover health care policy, economics and art. In 2004 they moved to the Adirondacks where Carol became the executive producer and head of production at Mountain Lake PBS. Her parents became ill and Carol was able to care for them while earning her Masters in Education. She came across the perfect job and is now the director/curator at the Clinton County Historical Museum.

Visiting Rotarians: From the Sunrise Club: Joan LaPier and Jim Bennett

Guests: Faith Osborn Long (Anne Cutaiar); Darcy Hale (Alice Church)

This Week:
President Bonnie is still looking for anyone interested in being a Rotary Group Exchange Leader to Brazil next year. She has applications if you are interested.

Auction Item: John Bernardi auctioned a “fresh” Radio Day gift of a night’s stay at La Quinta. John Seiden started the bidding at $50, but gave the gift back to John to auction again. Bill Rowe bought it for $50 making a total of $100 for the club.

Committee Moments:

Membership Committee: There is a representative of the Membership Committee at each table. Please let them know which committees you would like to serve on. Note: one fundraising and one other is preferable.

Rotaract: Take a look at the Rotaract Display Board depicting the ‘pinning’ of new members. Colin Read and Maria Alexander did a wonderful job on the Alternative Spring Break/Rotaract project.

Fishing Tournament: Notice the tournament pins on the table. They are to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Pier captains reported on their need for volunteers. If you haven’t signed up to help out, see the captains and fill a much needed spot.

Adopt-A-Highway: Scheduled for Thursday, April 30 at 4 p.m. Meet at Ninety-Nine Restaurant to get your hard hat and vest.

50/50: The pot is $1,430, and Steve Kende drew the 8 of clubs. There are 36 cards left in the deck.

Another Candle Burning For: Amy Asadourian (5/3) and Bill Rowe (5/7).