Separated Materials note
Processing Information note
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Conditions Governing Use note
Conditions Governing Access note
Related Archival Materials note
Biographical/Historical note
Custodial History note
Title: Kenneth William Hirsch papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 1985/04
Contributing Institution:
California State University, Sacramento Special Collections & University Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.0 Linear feet
(8 record cartons & 1 oversize box)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1956-1996
Date (inclusive): 1949-2002
Language of Materials note: Collection is in English and Swedish.
Abstract: Contains teaching and research files of Kenneth William Hirsch, a professor of Communication Studies at Sacramento State who
focused heavily on the effects of TV violence on children. In addition, it includes reports and hearings pertaining to the
California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention during the early 1980s.
Separated Materials note
Various books that came with the collection were cataloged and housed in the University Library.
Processing Information note
Collection was processed by Christopher Rockwell.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Collection was gifted to the University Library by Beatrice Nora Hirsch in 2011.
Conditions Governing Use note
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, Chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. Requests for permission to publish, quote, or reproduce
from collections must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives.
Permission for publication is given on the behalf of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, The Library,
California State University, Sacramento as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open for research. Some restrictions apply.
Related Archival Materials note
Related materials to Kenneth William Hirsch may be found in the following collections in this repository:
Pacific Sociological Association records (MSS 2006/13).
Biographical/Historical note
Kenneth William Hirsch was born on June 15, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois and later grew up in Highland Park, Illinois. After
graduating from high school in 1950, he served in the U.S. Army where he was stationed in Europe during the Korean War. After
coming home, he pursued his interest in broadcasting and attended the NBC-KPIX-Stanford Summer Radio-Television Institute
in 1953. By 1960, Hirsch graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech/Broadcasting and Film and later
received a Master of Arts in 1965. In 1969, he received his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Oregon.
Hirsch became an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Sacramento State College in 1969. His on-going research focused
on Mass and Human Communication, Group Process, Communication Theory and Research, Broadcasting and Film, Persuasion and Attitude
Change and Media Violence Effects on Children. In 1981, he served as a research consultant for the California Commission on
Crime Control and Violence Preservation. He retired from Sacramento State in 1988 and moved to Napa, Calif. with his wife,
Beatrice Nora Hirsch. He passed away on June 16, 2010.
Custodial History note
The collection was gathered and assembled by Kenneth William Hirsch throughout his lifetime. In December 1985, he deposited
a box of California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention hearings and reports. In 2011, the remaining of his
collection was deposited by his wife, Beatrice Nora Hirsch.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hirsch, Kenneth William
AIDS (Disease)
California. Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention
Children and violence.
Communication
Violence on television.