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Extent
Eight boxes (Boxes 1-8); 7.5 linear feet, one partial oversize box, artwork, and artifacts.

Records History
James Bertram (1872-1934) served as confidential secretary to Andrew Carnegie from 1897-1914 and as Secretary for the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1911-1934.

Mr. Bertram was born in Corstorphine, Scotland (four miles west of Edinburgh). He attended the Corstorphine parish school and graduated from Daniel Stewart's College, Edinburgh in 1888. He first went to work for the Great Northern and Northeastern Railway Company in Edinburgh in 1888. In August 1890, he began a position in the passenger department of the Natal Government Railways in Durban, South Africa. Mr. Bertram went on to work as station managers at Bellair and then at Harrismith in the Orange Free State, staying with the Natal Government Railways for five years. In December 1895, Mr. Bertram was hired as the secretary for S. Neumann and Company in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mr. Bertram would also work as Mine Secretary of the Van Ryn Gold Mines Estate Limited and the night secretary to the British forces in Johannesburg before returning to Scotland in June 1897 due to a severe fever.

Mr. Bertram applied for the position of personal secretary to Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), through Dr. Hew Morrison, Chief Librarian of the Edinburgh Public Library, Dr. Morrison having been commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to hire a secretary on his behalf. Mr. Bertram began as Mr. Carnegie's Confidential Secretary on December 1, 1897 at Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland. Mr. Bertram served as Mr. Carnegie's Confidential Secretary from 1897 to 1914. Mr. Bertram was also the Secretary of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from its incorporation in 1911 to his death in 1934. All together Mr. Bertram served Mr. Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation for thirty-seven years. As Confidential Secretary, Mr. Bertram carried out personal assignments made by Mr. Carnegie and assisted Carnegie in the distribution of his wealth. Mr. Bertram took it upon himself to organize and formalize donations of church organs and library buildings, the two types of donations for which Mr. Carnegie was most famous. Mr. Bertram saw himself as a buffer between the applicants and Mr. Carnegie, essentially deciding upon all requests for donations of church organs and library buildings himself. The consideration of applications for donations of both church organs and library buildings ceased in 1917.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York was incorporated in 1911 to "promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding among the people of the United States and the British Dominions and Canada." Mr. Bertram traveled on behalf of the Carnegie Corporation of New York in the United States, Canada, the British Dominions, including British Guiana, and parts of Africa in support of this mission. Mr. Bertram was voted the Secretary of the Corporation, was made a life trustee and served on its executive committee. Mr. Bertram's influence on the decisions on broad policies of the Corporation grew over time. He provided his services to the Board until his sudden death on October 23, 1934. After his death, the Board commissioned Dr. Frank Pierce Hill to write a biography of Mr. Bertram.

Apart from his professional duties, Mr. Bertram was a husband and father. In 1904 he married Janet Tod Ewing (d1949). The marriage produced one daughter, Jean Ewing Bertram. Miss Bertram would later wed Mr. James L. Burke. When not traveling, the Bertrams lived in New York. Mrs. Bertram and Mr. and Mrs. Burke would later live in New Rochelle, New York.

Scope and Content Note
The James Bertram Collection is housed in eight archival boxes and is arranged in seven series. Series have been designated for materials relating to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Andrew Carnegie, Mr. Bertram's Personal Life, Dr. Frank Pierce Hill, Audiovisual, Publications, and Three Dimensional Artifacts and Artwork. The collection includes correspondence, photographs (prints and negatives), newspaper clippings, bound volumes, annual reports, pamphlets, and other sundry items.

The Collection relates primarily to Mr. Bertram's life while Secretary of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (1911-1934) with the bulk of the material from 1926-1935. The Collection is mostly correspondence regarding Mr. Bertram's duties at the Carnegie Corporation, including correspondence between Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Bertram, correspondence with libraries regarding Carnegie funds, correspondence with the Carnegie Institution of Washington and other similar Institutions, and other organizations regarding libraries and books in general. Also prominent in the collection is material relating to Mr. Bertram's personal life, including correspondence with Mrs. Carnegie and evidence of his travels abroad.

For some of the material it was difficult to determine if the item related to Mr. Bertram's duties for Mr. Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation or with his personal life. There may be overlap among the correspondence in these two series. It was also difficult to determine if the photographs were taken for business or personal reasons. Bertram, James, page 3

Series I: Carnegie Corporation
Series I includes documentation of activities undertaken by Mr. Bertram relating to his duties as Mr. Carnegie's confidential secretary and as Secretary for the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Series is divided into seven sub-series: libraries, church organ application, archaeology, correspondence, Board of Trustees: Bertram Memorial Minutes, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous. The Correspondence section is extensive and is separated into sub-sub-series by correspondent. Note that within this series of business correspondence is a sub-sub-series of personal letters from Mr. Bertram to his family written while on a business trip.

Series II: Andrew Carnegie
The Andrew Carnegie series is collection of materials relating to Mr. Carnegie. There are two small artistic renderings of Mr. Carnegie, a pencil drawing and an oil painting. There is a poem called "Me and Andra" written about Mr. Carnegie and his letter of reply to the poem's author. Also included are obituaries for Mr. Carnegie and newspaper clippings about his philanthropic works.

Series III: Personal Life
Series III relates to the personal life of Mr. Bertram and his family. The material in this series extends past the date of Mr. Bertram's death to the death of Mrs. Bertram in 1949. The series has been divided into four sub-series: Mr. Bertram, Mrs. Bertram, Miss Jean Bertram, and Mr. and Mrs. Burke (formerly Miss Jean Bertram). Each sub-series has been further divided into sub-sub-series. The sub-sub-series consist primarily of correspondence, which have been further divided by correspondent.

Series IV: Dr. Frank Pierce Hill
Dr. Hill was commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation's Board of Trustees to write a biography of Mr. Bertram posthumously. The series contains Dr. Hill's correspondence from university and public libraries, the American Library Association, and others that would have had contact with Mr. Bertram. The letters discuss their contact with Mr. Bertram. All of the correspondence is from 1935.

Series V. Audiovisual Materials (photographs and audio)
The photographs have been divided by location. There is a large section of miscellaneous photos that either are identified, but do not fit into a large sub-series or were unidentified. The sub-series of photographs relates to both Mr. Bertram's work for Mr. Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation, and his personal travels. It is difficult for most images to determine to which category they belong. The photographs consist of both prints and negatives. There are images from South America, Florida and South Carolina, Dornoch, Scotland, a Europe, Jerusalem and Africa trip, British Guiana, libraries, Yucatan archaeological dig and other miscellaneous images.

The audio materials include eleven wax cylinders, one reel-to-reel tape, one DAT, and one audio cassette of the recording on the wax cylinders. The wax cylinders are located in the Archives, occupying three linear feet (three boxes). The transcriptions of the cylinders are located at the Archives' off-site storage facility. Series VI: Publications The publications have been placed into three sub-series: pamphlets, annual reports and bound volumes. The publications in the collection mostly refer to Andrew Carnegie, his involvement in the steel industry, the Carnegie Corporation and projects it funded, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Series VII: Three Dimensional Artifacts and Artwork
The items in this series can be divided into two groups, large three-dimensional pieces and ephemera. The larger pieces include two commemorative pieces of furniture, Mr. Bertram's Dictaphone, and framed art pieces. The three dimensional artifacts relate to work by Mr. Bertram on behalf of the Carnegie Corporation; the art pieces depict Mr. Carnegie. There are four items of ephemera: a book stamp, sample prints with the book stamp, a commemorative ashtray from the Spokane Library in Washington, and a medal commemorating the dedication of the Carnegie Institute on April 11, 1907. All of the items of ephemera relate to projects funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Provenance
The James Bertram Collection was donated to the Carnegie Mellon University Archives by Dr. and Mrs. James Tucker. Donations were made in 1996 and 2002.

Restrictions
None

Separations
Photographic prints and negatives have been removed from the main collection for preservation reasons. A photocopy has been included of prints that were interspersed with other materials, maintaining the relationships between the text and the image and to alert the user that there are images related to the documents. Photos removed from sub-series are listed under that sub-series in Series V. Photographs. Photographic prints are housed in a document box (.5 cubic feet) with the collection. Negatives are housed in one partial filing drawer, labeled "4x5 negatives miscellaneous."

All oversize materials, as indicated in the container list, are housed in an oversize box with the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College, School of Printing Management and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center oversize materials.

Some of the art and three-dimensional artifacts are also recorded in Carnegie Mellon's Artistic Properties Database. These pieces have been noted in the container list with the designation APD, for Artistic Properties Database.

The magnetic media from the collection, i.e. the three transcriptions of the wax cylinders, are located at the Archives' offsite storage facility.

Processors
Hillary Bober and Matthew Yount

Bx1
I. Carnegie Corporation

A. Libraries

FF1 1. Application
FF2 2. Cleveland Library plan, 1935 (photos)
FF3 3. Riverside Library (photo)
FF4 4. New York State Library
FF5 5. The Public Library of Edinburgh
FF6 6. West Indies
FF7 7. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
FF8 8. Local Library Journals

FF9 B. Church organ application

C. Archaeology

FF10 1. Yucatan

D. Correspondence

FF11 1. Andrew Carnegie and Mr. Bertram
FF12 2. Europe, Jerusalem, Africa trip (letters to family while on business trip) (photographs)
FF13 3. Condolences- Mr. Bertram and Mr. Poynton
FF14 4. Carnegie Institution of Washington
FF15 5. International Institute of African Languages and Cultures
FF16 6. Institute of Jamaica
FF17 7. Lake Placid Club
FF18 8. Canadian Universities (St. John's- Newfoundland, Kings College-Nova Scotia)
FF19 9. British Guiana (photographs)
FF20 10. Dr. Burton J. Hendrick
FF21 11. Gen. and Mrs. Carty
FF22 12. Sir Edward
FF23 13. Publishers
FF24 14. Miscellaneous

FF25 E. Board of Trustees: Bertram Memorial Minutes

FF26 F. Newspaper Clippings

FF27 G. Miscellaneous

1. American Museum of Natural History single admission cards

II. Andrew Carnegie

FF28 A. Pencil Drawing (APD)
FF29 B. Oil Painting (APD)
FF30 C. "Me and Andra" poem
FF31 D. Obituaries
FF32 E. Clippings (legal size)

III. Personal Life

A. Mr. Bertram

FF33 1. Passport
FF34 2. Letter of Appointment
FF35 3. Account with Mr. Carnegie (Nov. 1899-Dec. 1908) (legal size)
FF36 4. Account with Mr. Carnegie (Jan. 1909-July 1918)
5.Correspondence

FF37 a. Mrs. Louis Carnegie
FF38 b. Dornoch
FF39 c. South Africa
FF40 d. Invitations
FF41 e. Holiday greetings
FF42 f. Miscellaneous

FF43 6. Memberships
FF44 7. Clippings (legal size) (oversize)
FF45 8. Miscellaneous

a. Cook's Letter of Identification, 1928

B. Mrs. Bertram

FF46 1. Passport
FF47 2. Cook's Letter of Identification, 1927
FF48 3. Condolences
FF49 4. Carnegie Corporation (after Bertram death)
FF50 5. Carnegie Corporation invitations
FF51 6. Carnegie Institute of Washington invitations
FF52 7. Correspondence from Mrs. Carnegie (1)
FF53 8. Correspondence from Mrs. Carnegie (2)
FF54 9. Correspondence from Mrs. Margaret C. Miller (formerly Margaret Carnegie)
FF55 10. Dornoch
FF56 11. Miscellaneous Correspondence FF57 12. Mrs. Bertram obituaries (preservation issues)
FF58 13. Miscellaneous

C. Miss Jean Bertram

FF59 1. Correspondence

D. Mr. and Mrs. Burke (formerly Miss Bertram)

FF60 1. Correspondence

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IV. Dr. Frank P. Hill

FF61 A. University Libraries

B. Public Libraries

FF62 1. 8/3/35-8/10/35
FF63 2. 8/10/35-10/16/35

FF64 C. American Library Association

D. Miscellaneous

FF65 1. March-August 1935
FF66 2. August 1935
FF67 3. September 1935
FF68 4. October-November 1935

V. Publications

A. Pamphlets

FF69 1. Carnegie Institution of Washington

a. "Exhibition Presenting the Results of Recent Research Activities of the Carnegie Institution of Washington," December 16-18, 1939
b. Publications of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, March 1, 1916
c. "Exhibition Presenting the Results of Research Activities at the Carnegie Institution of Washington," December 14-16, 1935 (2)
d. "The Carnegie Institution of Washington News Service Bulletin-School Edition: Elihu Root Hall and the Program of Research Interpretation" Vol. IV No. 33, December 8, 1938
e. "The Carnegie Institution of Washington: Scope and Organization," December 9, 1914

FF70 2. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA

a. Carnegie Magazine, January 1932 (2 copies)
b. "Fighting the Dragon," Samuel Harden Church (President of Carnegie Institute), Patriotism Through Education Series, No. 34
c. "The American Verdict on the War: A Reply to the Manifesto of the German Professors," Samuel Harden Church

FF71 3. Carnegie Corporation

a. "Henry Suzzallo: 1875-1933," Frederick Paul Keppel, 1933
b. "Carnegie Corporation of New York," 1936
c. "Carnegie Corporation of New York- Bylaws,"1919
d. "Andrew Carnegie, Educator," Alvin Johnson, 1936

FF72 4. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

a. "Program: Dinner in Honor of the Visiting Members of the Interparliamentary Union," October 8, 1925
b. "Seating List: Dinner in Honor of the Visiting Members of the Interparliamentary Union," October 8, 1925
c. "Epitome: Of the Purpose, Plans and Methods of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace," 1919

FF73 5. About Andrew Carnegie

a. "Meeting in Memory of the Life and Work of Andrew Carnegie," April 25, 1920
b. "A Millionaire's Mail Bag," John A. Poynton, 1915
c. "The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Memorial," June 30, 1928
d. "Memorial Service in Honor of Andrew Carnegie on his Birthday," November 25, 1919

FF74 6. Andrew Carnegie Benefactions

a. "The British Benefactions of Andrew Carnegie," Sir George Adam Smith, November 25, 1935
b. "The Benefactions of Andrew Carnegie," Burton J. Hendrick,1935
c. "Andrew Carnegie: Founder of the United States Military Telegraph Corps, An Appreciation," David Homer Bates, 1917

FF75 7. Steel Industry

a. "The Men Who Make Steel," American Iron and Steel Institute, May 1936
b. "Mr. Carnegie's Testimony Before United States Commission on Industrial Relations," February 5, 1915

FF76 8. Mr. Bertram

a. "Prominent People in Picture and Paragraph," Broadway Magazine, December 1907, p. 334

FF77 9. Miscellaneous

a. "The Day of Crisis: A Sermon," Paul Austin Wolf, November 5, 1939
b. "British Censorship and Enemy Publications," Theodore Wesley Koch, September 1917

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B. Annual Reports- Carnegie Corporation

1. Report of the President and of the Treasurer, 1934-1941
2. Annual Report, 1942-1947

C. Bound Volumes

1. My Larger Education, Booker T. Washington, 1911
2. Heroes of Peace: A History of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, Thomas S. Arbuthnot, 1935
3. Memorial Celebration of the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburgh, PA, April 11-13, 1907
4. The Story of Carnegie Tech 1900-1935, Arthur W. Tarbell, 1937
5. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Preliminary Economic Studies of the War, Effects of the War on Money, Credit and Banking, 1919

Bx4

6. Personal Recollections of Andrew Carnegie, Frederick Lynch (Educational Secretary of the Church Peace Union) 1920
7. Last Cruise of the Carnegie, J. Harland Paul, 1932
8. Carnegie Steel Company, 1903: Pocket companion containing useful information and tables pertaining to the use of steel as manufactured by Carnegie Steel Co., 1903
9. Addresses delivered at the laying of the Corner Stone, May 15, 1912 and the dedication June 13, 1913 of the Public Library Building, Brockton, Mass., 1913
10. Carnegie Institution of Washington Yearbook No. 31, July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932, 1932
11. Carnegie Institute of Washington, News Service Bulletin- School Edition, Volume 1, Nos. 3-50, 1926-1929 (2 copies)
12. Carnegie Institute of Washington, News Service Bulletin- Staff Edition, Volume 1, Nos. 1-50, 1926-1929
13. Carnegie Institute of Washington, News Service Bulletin- Staff Edition, Volume 2, Nos. 1-36, 1930-1932
14. Hill Biography on J. Bertram (4 copies)
15. A Carnegie Anthology, Margaret Barclay Wilson, 1915
16. Andrew Carnegie, Elbert Hubbard (leather bound)
17. Andrew Carnegie Centenary, Sir James Colquhoun Irvine, 1935

Bx5
VI. Audiovisual Materials

A. Photographs

1. South America trip photos

a. Negatives
b. Postcards

2. USA- FL and SC photos

a. Negatives

3. Dornoch photos

a. Negatives

4. Jerusalem and Africa trip 1927 photos

a. Negatives

5. Africa

a. Negatives

6. British Guiana

a. Botanical Garden (image descriptions in folder) (FF19)

7. Carnegie Corporation- Libraries

a. Cleveland Library Plan, 1935 (FF2)
b. Riverside Library (FF3)

8. Carnegie Corporation- Archaeology (FF10)

a. Yucatan photos

9. Andrew Carnegie

a. Framed photograph of Andrew Carnegie (20x30) inscribed to Mr. Bertram at Skibo Castle (storage)

10. Personal Life- Mrs. Bertram (FF58)

a. Andrew Carnegie and Mrs. Bertram
b. Carnegies and Bertrams at Provost Stachison's House

11. Miscellaneous

a. Mission Inn, just across the street from Carnegie Library
b. Founders Day Banquet of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen (oversize)
c. Mrs. Scott pruning vines 8/28/27
d. Mr. Scott and Mr. Bertram
e. Miscellaneous

Bx6, 7, 8

B. Audio

1. Eleven wax cylinders (six used, five blank)
2. Reel-to-reel transcription of the six recorded cylinders (offsite)
3. DAT copy of reel-to-reel transcription (offsite)
4. Audio cassette of reel-to-reel transcription (offsite)

VII. Three Dimensional Artifacts

A. Large artifacts and artwork

1. African carved hardwood (teak) stool (APD, Fine and Rare Books Room- Hunt Library)
2. Framed certificate presenting Mr. and Mrs. Bertram with stool on opening of Carnegie Trade Center for Women (February 1934), British Guiana (Archives-oversize)
3. Georgian-style mahogany library chair (APD, Bramer House, 3rd floor)
4. "Andrew Carnegie" print by Louis F. Mora, (APD, storage)
5. "Carnegie at the Portal of Knowledge" drawing by W. F. M. Edwards (APD, storage)
6. Dictaphone circa 1907-1915 (Fine and Rare Books Room- Hunt Library)

Bx3

B. Ephemera

1. Book stamp
2. Book stamp copies
3. Ashtray: Spokane Library, Washington
4. Medal- Dedication Medal- Carnegie Institute, April 11, 1907
5. Wooden box/Lap desk (damaged) (unboxed- see shelf list for location)