THE CHRISTMAS CARAVAN OF LOVE FOR FRED M. KIRBY

[Wilkes-Barre, Pa: Smith-Bennett Corp., 1927. Scarce First Edition. A collection of letter tributes to Kirby and presented in this book form during a 1927 Christmas Party at the Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre. Fred Morgan Kirby [1861-1940] was from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and the founder of the F. M. Kirby & Co. 5 & 10-cent Store chain and a philanthropist. Kirby’s company was a major rival of the much larger F. W. Woolworth & Co. and the two businesses merged in 1912. Fred Kirby became a Vice President of the F. W. Woolworth & Co., which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The financial success of the F.W. Woolworth chain gave Fred Kirby, in the early decades of the twentieth century, an estimated fortune of approximately thirty to fifty million dollars. This enabled the businessman to establish the Fred Morgan Kirby Foundation. He became a shareholder in many other corporations, including the Allegheny Railroad Company. He was also well-respected for his philanthropic spirit and he was a major benefactor to Wilkes-Barre, the town where his success began. He donated the money for a community health center in memory of his mother, Angeline Elizabeth Slater Kirby. He also donated the money for a park and its upkeep to be in the center of Wilkes-Barre as well as numerous other cultural institutions throughout the city. In addition to these philanthropic activities, Fred Kirby became one of Lafayette College’s foremost benefactors. By far, his most significant endowments to the college were for the establishment of the Fred Morgan Kirby Professorship of Civil Rights in 1921 and for the construction of the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights in 1929. The book contains laudatory letters from political leaders, businessmen and religious leaders. A very scarce book!. Quarto, brown limp faux-leather; unpaginated. Assembled and Presented by Hugh Weir.. Very Good (covers nice; contents clean & tight).