Richard Gibson Hensley (1903-1959)

Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Officer

A graduate of Columbia and Harvard, Hensley received early library training while working as a reference assistant at the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. In 1929, he began his career at the Boston Public Library, becoming chief librarian of the reference division in 1934. Hensley served with the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army and under the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C. from 1942 to 1943. He spent the following year on the staff of the U.S. Army Engineer School in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. From 1945 to 1946, Hensley worked with the MFAA and the Allied Commission for Reparations in Austria. Little else is known about his MFAA service. Upon his return home, he resumed his position at the Boston Public Library. Hensley died in 1959 at the age of 56.