A little-remembered Gilded Age millionaire helped make milk safe for American kids through his ‘retail giving’

A girl picks up milk at one of the depots funded by Nathan Straus to provide pasteurized milk to low-income families. Library of Congress

The 1844 edition of the widely used schoolbook written by William H. McGuffey, “Newly Revised Eclectic Fourth Reader,” includes a dialogue about the difference between “true and false philanthropy”:

Mr. Fantom: I despise a narrow field. O for the reign of universal benevolence! I want to make all mankind good and happy.