Student body standing in front of library in 1950
Student body standing in front of library in 1953
Students studying in the reading room of the Hirschi Founders Library
Birkman Chapel and Hirschi Library, 1953
This page from the 1949 class yearbook shows the completed Hirschi Founders Library. The yearbook notes the $75,000 Hirschi donation, the equivalent of $742,000 dollars today. Records of Hirschi's stock sales from F.W. Woolworth & Co., General Electric Company, Montgomery Ward & Co., and National Steel Corporation indicate how he funded his gift to Concordia.
The Hirschi Founders Library was built in 1949 at the original Concordia campus in central Austin. Donor John Hirschi, President of the Wichita State Bank, provided $75,000 for its construction. Records for the transfer of Hirschi's stock, including J.C. Penney and F.W. Woolworth, are included in Concordia's archival records at the Portal to Texas History.
600 shares of stock for F.W. Woolworth Co. were given to Concordia from John Hirschi on April 13, 1948.
200 shares of stock for General Electric Company were given to Concordia from John Hirschi on April 13, 1948
150 shares of stock for Montgomery Ward & Company, Inc. were given to Concordia from John Hirschi on April 13, 1948.
100 shares of stock for National Steel Corporation were given to Concordia from John Hirschi on April 13, 1948.
This is a letter from George Anderson to Reverend George Beto, President of Concordia College, regarding another donation Mr. Hirschi made. This donation was made specifically for erection of the chapel. This donation was also made with stocks. The stock comprised of ten certificates for 100 shares of J.C. Penny Company stock and was donated on July 7th, 1950. The letter states that the donation is for "the erection of the Hirschi Chapel at Concordia College," however, the chapel is actually called the Birkman Chapel.
