Sid W. Richardson
Encyclopedia
Sid Williams Richardson was a Texas
oil
man, cattle
man, and philanthropist
known for his association with the city of Fort Worth
.
A native of Athens
in east Texas, Richardson attended Baylor University
and Simmons College
from 1910 to 1912. With borrowed money, he and a business partner, Clint Murchison, Sr.
, amassed $1 million in the oil business in 1919-1920, but then watched their fortunes wane with the oil market, until business again boomed in 1933.
Richardson was president of Sid Richardson Gasoline Co. in Kermit
, Sid Richardson Carbon Company in Odessa
, and Sid W. Richardson Inc., in Fort Worth
, and was a partner in Fort Worth-based Richardson and Bass Oil Producers.
He began ranching in the 1930s and developed a love of Western art, particularly that of Frederic Remington
and Charles M. Russell. He built one of the largest private collections of these artists' work, which opened to the public as the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art in 1982. After a yearlong renovation, it reopened as the Sid Richardson Museum in 2006.
Richardson had already given numerous scholarships and gifts to local organizations when friend Amon G. Carter
persuaded him to establish the Sid W. Richardson Foundation
in 1947. The foundation awards grants to Texas organizations in the areas of education, health, human services, and cultural institutions; grants in the latter two categories are restricted to groups in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
area. The foundation's Fort Worth headquarters shares a building with the Richardson Collection of Western Art.
Upon his death aged 68 in 1959, Richardson, a bachelor, bequeathed a large portion of his estate to his foundation, and left several million dollars to his nephew
-partner, Perry Bass. Richardson named John B. Connally, the future Texas governor
, as co-executor of the estate, a designation which provided Connally with steady income for years thereafter.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
man, cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
man, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
known for his association with the city of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
.
A native of Athens
Athens, Texas
Athens is a city in Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,710. It is the county seat of Henderson County. According to the Texas Legislature, Athens is the "Original Home of the Hamburger"...
in east Texas, Richardson attended Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and Simmons College
Hardin-Simmons University
Hardin–Simmons University is a private Baptist university located in Abilene, Texas, United States.-History:Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist College in 1891 by the Sweetwater Baptist Association and a group of cattlemen and pastors who sought to bring Christian higher...
from 1910 to 1912. With borrowed money, he and a business partner, Clint Murchison, Sr.
Clint Murchison, Sr.
Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr. , was a noted Texas-based oil magnate and political operative. He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, Jr..-Personal:...
, amassed $1 million in the oil business in 1919-1920, but then watched their fortunes wane with the oil market, until business again boomed in 1933.
Richardson was president of Sid Richardson Gasoline Co. in Kermit
Kermit, Texas
Kermit is a city in and the county seat of Winkler County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,708 at the 2010 census. The city was named for Kermit Roosevelt after a visit by his father Theodore Roosevelt to the county.-History: -Establishment:...
, Sid Richardson Carbon Company in Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, and Sid W. Richardson Inc., in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, and was a partner in Fort Worth-based Richardson and Bass Oil Producers.
He began ranching in the 1930s and developed a love of Western art, particularly that of Frederic Remington
Frederic Remington
Frederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
and Charles M. Russell. He built one of the largest private collections of these artists' work, which opened to the public as the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art in 1982. After a yearlong renovation, it reopened as the Sid Richardson Museum in 2006.
Richardson had already given numerous scholarships and gifts to local organizations when friend Amon G. Carter
Amon G. Carter
Amon G. Carter, Sr. was the creator and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth, Texas. A legacy in his will was used to create Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum....
persuaded him to establish the Sid W. Richardson Foundation
Sid W. Richardson Foundation
The Sid W. Richardson Foundation is a philanthropic organization, founded in 1947 by Sid W. Richardson , a Texan who earned his fortune in the oil industry...
in 1947. The foundation awards grants to Texas organizations in the areas of education, health, human services, and cultural institutions; grants in the latter two categories are restricted to groups in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...
area. The foundation's Fort Worth headquarters shares a building with the Richardson Collection of Western Art.
Upon his death aged 68 in 1959, Richardson, a bachelor, bequeathed a large portion of his estate to his foundation, and left several million dollars to his nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
-partner, Perry Bass. Richardson named John B. Connally, the future Texas governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
, as co-executor of the estate, a designation which provided Connally with steady income for years thereafter.
Institutions named for Richardson
- Sid Richardson Auditorium of the Amon Carter MuseumAmon Carter MuseumThe Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...
in Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... - Sid Richardson Museum, in Fort Worth housing Sid Richardson's extensive collection of Western Art featuring works by Remington and Russell
- Sid Richardson College, one of eleven residential colleges at Rice UniversityRice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, HoustonHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ... - The Sid W. Richardson Physical Sciences Building at Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
, Fort Worth - Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, a Boy ScoutScouting in TexasScouting in Texas has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live...
camp on Lake Bridgeport, near DecaturDecatur, TexasDecatur is a city located in Wise County, Texas, United States. This city was named after Stephen Decatur, Jr. The population was 5,201 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 6,432. It is the county seat of Wise County... - Sid Richardson Hall, an academic building at the University of Texas, AustinAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, which houses the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Eugene C. BarkerEugene C. BarkerEugene Campbell Barker was a distinguished professor of Texas history at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the first living person to have a UT campus building, the Eugene C. Barker Texas History Center, named in his honor. The structure is part of the Center for American History and was...
Texas History Collection, the UT Center for American History, and the Benson Latin American Collection. - Sid Richardson Building, Baylor UniversityBaylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
, WacoWaco, TexasWaco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, which houses the Paul L. Foster Success Center. - Sid Richardson Recreation Center, Austin CollegeAustin CollegeAustin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated by covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church and located in Sherman, Texas, about 60 miles North of Dallas....
, ShermanSherman, TexasSherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:... - Sid Richardson Building, Texas Wesleyan UniversityTexas Wesleyan UniversityTexas Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university founded by the United Methodist Church in 1890. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, with branch campuses in Burleson and downtown Fort Worth.-History:Texas Wesleyan...
, Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and... - Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center at Fort Worth Country Day SchoolFort Worth Country Day SchoolFort Worth Country Day School is a public K-12 school in Fort Worth, Texas.The school broke ground in 1963. Nine months later, the school opened on September 9, 1963 with grades one through nine. 210 students were initially enrolled. The Sid Richardson Gymnasium opened in 1967. Eight additional...
, completed in 2009. - Sid Richardson Science Center, Hardin-Simmons UniversityHardin-Simmons UniversityHardin–Simmons University is a private Baptist university located in Abilene, Texas, United States.-History:Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist College in 1891 by the Sweetwater Baptist Association and a group of cattlemen and pastors who sought to bring Christian higher...
, AbileneAbilene, TexasAbilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
External links
- Sid Richardson Museum
- Sid Richardson Museum Store
- Sid W. Richardson Foundation; includes biography
- Biography of Richardson, from the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art