Purdy-Kresge Library all divisions into one general library. The merger began with the renovation of the General Library which was renamed the Purdy Kresge Library and all services were stationed on the first floor. In September 1969, Purdy passed but his name will live on at Wayne State University. In 1972, the Wayne State Board of Governors supported the renaming of the General Library as the G. Flint Purdy Library because of his dedication to libraries and Wayne State University. The Purdy-Kresge Library is also named after Sebastian S. Kresge. Kresge was the founder of the S.S. Kresge Company. The company started
S. S. Kresge old, he was educated in the local public schools, the Fairview Academy, in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, and at the Eastman Business College, from which he graduated in March 1889. Following his graduation, he clerked in a hardware store for two years, then worked as a traveling salesman from 1892 to 1897. On March 20, 1897, Kresge began working for James G. McCrory, the founder of J.G. McCrory's, at a five and ten cent store in Memphis, Tennessee. He continued there for two years. In 1899 he founded his own company, with Charles J. Wilson, with an $8,000 investment in two five-and-ten-cent