William E. Carnahan created the fund to provide his sister, Ella May Carnahan, and nephew, Frederick c. McKee, the means to "alleviate the distress of any of my blood relatives," namely the Schmertz and Carnahan families.
After the death of both William and his wife Melissa, William directed a fund to be established in his wife's name for charitable purposes, specifically charitable, religious or educational organizations in the U.S. William passed away on March 1, 1939, at the age of 82.
Not much is known about his wife Melissa Stewart McKee. She was a writer and collaborated with her husband on a book titled "Personal Experiences of the San Francisco Earthquake of April 1906," which resides in University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.
The book is her first-person account of a 10-day trip that she and her husband took to California in 1906 at the time of the major earthquake. Melissa writes that she decided to tell the story at the urging of family and friends for private circulation.
The fund has benefited the Urban League of Pittsburgh Scholarship Aid for Negroes, Pittsburgh Playhouse, The Salvation Army, Western Pa. Multiple Sclerosis Society, Hill City Youth, America Red Cross and numerous colleges and universities.
Type of Fund
- Unrestricted