Hirsch Library History
About Maurice & Winifred Hirsch
In September of 1981, an endowment was established for the Hirsch Library by two longtime Museum supporters: General Maurice and Winifred Busby Hirsch.
This generous bequest was designated to be used for “the maintenance, repair, and embellishment of the present or subsequently substituted premises of the Museum library and for the purchase of fixtures, furnishings, books, manuscripts, book illustrations, periodicals, appropriate art objects, and any other use pertinent to a museum library” (letter from Maurice Hirsch to the chairman of the Board of Trustees, September 23, 1981).
The library was named the Hirsch Library that year, as a lasting tribute to these two patrons.
The Hirsch family had been involved with the MFAH since it opened in 1924. General Hirsch’s father, Jules Hirsch, was an early contributor to the Museum building fund that year. In 1947, Maurice and Winifred were married and became active participants as a couple in the city’s cultural life. In the early 1950s they carried on the family’s support of the Museum with generous financial contributions and donations of works of art to the MFAH art collections. The Hirsches traveled the world many times, and during a trip to Egypt in 1952, they bought several Egyptian art objects for the Museum.
Maurice became a Museum trustee in 1960. Winifred played an active role in the Museum’s auxiliary and volunteer groups, and in 1954 and 1955 she was the first chair of the “Art Cart” program that took works of art from the Museum to Houston’s Veterans Administration Hospital. The most treasured of the Hirsches’ gifts to the Museum is an outstanding Greek vase, Hydria (Water Jar) with Domestic Scene, created c. 470–460 BC by the Painter of the Yale Oinochoe. This lovely black vase depicts scenes of daily life painted in red.
Maurice died during a trip to Hong Kong in 1983, after a lifetime of work as a lawyer and philanthropist. Winifred continued to actively support the Hirsch Library until her death in 1990. She bequeathed her jewelry collection to the library, and its 1991 sale at Christie’s in New York added significantly to the endowment.
Timeline | Libraries and Archives of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1924
- MFAH Watkin Building opens
1926
- Idea for building a library at the Museum is introduced by MFAH director James Chillman
- Library is established in the basement of the west wing of the Museum
- Funds for books to start the Library’s collection come from a public fund drive
1939–1956
- Library is run by volunteers who oversaw the daily operations of the facility
1956–1964
- Library is managed by a succession of full-time staff also assigned as Acting Librarian
1958
- After the construction of Cullinan Hall in the 1958, the Library was moved to an area under the stairwell where Cullinan Hall adjoins the original Watkin Building
1964
- The Museum hired its first full-time professionally trained librarian, Debra Neu
1969
- Board member Kenneth Franzheim, II provided a generous donation to the museum for the development of the Library
1973
- Joe Allbritton contributed a substantial amount for the purchase of the Lester Beall collection of books on twentieth-century art and photography in memory of John Beck. Mr. Allbritton’s donation was the largest contribution received for the Library until Gen. and Mrs. Hirsch endowed the Library in 1981
1973–89
- Linda Nelson Shearhouse began her tenure as first long-standing librarian
1974
- Opened to the public in January 1974, the newly-constructed Brown Pavilion included a spacious Library located on the first floor of the east side of the building. The Library included a small room for exhibitions, a large reading area with shelves for reference books and periodicals, a stack area, and a room for Library staff.
- Designed by renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Library remained in this location for the next 48 years
1981
- General Maurice and Winifred Busby Hirsch establish an endowment for the library. s a lasting tribute to these two patrons, the library is named the Hirsch Library
1982
- Peter Marzio, who became museum director in 1982, strongly advocated for the growth of the Hirsch Library so that it could better serve both the museum staff and the public
1984
- National Historic Publications and Records Commission grant established an Archives.
- Kathleen Robinson hired as first archivist and continues her tenure until 1995
1985
- Gregory Most hired as full-time professional slide librarian
- With the retirement of the volunteer librarian at Bayou Bend in 1985, the administration of the Bayou Bend Library was transferred to the Hirsch Library
1987
- The Hirsch Library was selected for special membership in the Research Libraries Group. It was one of only two art museum libraries in the southwestern US invited to join this important network. Mrs. Winifred Hirsch provided the funds necessary to join the data network and purchase computer equipment
1989–2004
- Jeannette Dixon served as Library Director
1991
- Subscription to first online periodical index, Art Index, was established, greatly simplifying searching for citations to art periodicals
1995–2016
- Lorraine Stuart serves as Archives Director
1998
- Library inaugurated first fully automated online catalog of its holdings, which provided easy access to the Library's holdings both within the Library and via the Internet.
2000
- Museum’s Audrey Jones Beck Building opens
2000–01
- The Library closed in September 2000 for a $1.5 million expansion project that more than doubled its size from 3,900 to 8,389 square feet and allowed it to upgrade its services. The Library opened to the public on May 15, 2001 with an elegantly enlarged reading room on the main floor of the museum overlooking the Alice Pratt Brown Garden, and a downstairs area housing the main stacks, vertical files, rare book collection, and cataloging offices.
2002
- The slide library was part of the Hirsch Library from 1983 until July 1, 2002 when it became part of the Registrar’s department
2004
- The Museum Archives was part of the Hirsch Library from 1984 until 2004 when the archivist began reporting to the Associate Director of Finance and Administration
2004–10
- Margaret Culbertson served as Library Director
2010
- Kilroy Visitor and Education Center opens at Bayou Bend, housing The Kitty King
- Powell Library and Study Center. Margaret Culbertson becomes Kitty King Powell Librarian
2010
- Jon Evans becomes Director of Libraries
- William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive, a freely accessible digital archive devoted Texas material culture, initiated by Michael K. Brown, curator of Bayou Bend, and Margaret Culbertson
2012
- Acquisition of the 7,500 volume Manfred Heiting Book Collection, recognized as one of the most significant photographic collections in private hands
- Established partnership between MFAH Libraries and the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library at the University of Houston to enhance access to research resource for patrons of both institutions
2013
- Established partnership between MFAH Libraries and Fondren Library of Rice University. Partnership focuses on shared space and shared collections
2016–2018
- Melissa Gonzales serves as Archives Manager
2017
- Museum unifies the libraries and archives under one departmental umbrella. Jon Evans becomes Chief of Libraries & Archives
2017–2025
- Marie Wise serves as Managing Archivist
2018
- As part of the Museum’s broader campus expansion and the building of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, the Hirsch Library began a two-phase move of its facilities in 2018. The first phase resulted in the migration of two thirds of its 175,000 volume general collection and 30,000 vertical files, along with the move of 6 members of its staff to the Museum Visitor Center (MVC)
2019
- MFAH Archives opens a new public reading room and research facility on the main campus after nearly 25 years off-site. The entirety of its collections are now housed under one roof in the Museum’s administration building
- Manfred Heiting Book Collection is incorporated into the Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center, providing researchers with the opportunity to examine exemplary photobooks managed by the Library and exhibition prints from the Museum’s extensive photography collection side-by-side
2020
- Museum opens the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building on its main campus during the global pandemic. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the building provides gallery space for the Museum’s extensive modern and contemporary art collections
2021
- Decorative Arts Trust, a national nonprofit organization, selected the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive as one of three finalists for its prestigious Prize for Excellence and Innovation
2022
- As part of the Hirsch Library’s phased move, the Library closes its former reading room in April and moves into its new home in September. The new spaces features a highly visible, inviting, and well-lit reading room, as well as a rare book reading room, digitization lab, reference and rare book housing, staff and visiting scholars offices, and exhibition cases in the lower level of the Audrey Jones Beck Building. The space is 56% larger than the former reading room facility with 5,700 square feet of space.
- Established partnership between the Libraries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Lawndale Art and Performance Center in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas and support between the two entities, as well as to provide circulation privileges to Lawndale staff and artist-in-residence
- Texas Digital Library presented the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive its 2022 Excellence Award, honoring projects that demonstrate excellence in digital library practice
2023
- Established partnership between the Libraries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the PAC Art Residency (PAC) in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas and support between the two entities, as well as to provide circulation privileges to PAC staff and artist-in-residence
- Established partnership between the Libraries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Houston Center for Photography (HCP) in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas and support between the two entities, as well as to provide circulation privileges to HCP staff and artist-in-residence
2024
- William J. Hill Texas Artisans & Artists Archive reaches a milestone, surpassing 150,000 records devoted to Texas material culture
- Texas Historical Records Advisory Board recognized the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive with their 2023 Archival Award of Excellence. This acknowledgment is given to entities that expose and share difficult-to-access archival materials throughout the state of Texas
2025
- Mark Pompelia begins tenure as Managing Archivist