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Sid Richardson Hall dedicated
On this day in 1971, Sid Richardson Hall on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin was dedicated. The building, adjacent to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, was named for oilman and philanthropist Sid Richardson, born in Athens, Texas, in 1891. He became an independent oil producer in Fort Worth in 1919 and was well established as a millionaire by 1935. The public seldom knew of Richardson's business activities, and few knew what he looked like, for he rarely talked to reporters and did not like publicity. In 1947 he established the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, designed to aid churches, hospitals, and schools in Texas. Richardson was considered one of the wealthiest men in the nation; some estimates of his worth ranged up to $800 million, and he was often referred to as the "bachelor billionaire." He died in 1959. The building that bears his name houses the Center for American History, the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, the Texas State Historical Association, and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- RICHARDSON, SID WILLIAMS
- LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
- SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION
- CENTER FOR AMERICAN HISTORY
- NETTIE LEE BENSON LATIN AMERICAN COLLECTION
- TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
- UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Charitable foundation begins bumpy journey (1960)
- "Know-Nothings" abandon secrecy, meet in Austin (1856)
- Mason County courthouse burns (1877)
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