Guide, Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania
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A Guide to the Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records 1898-1972 (bulk 1935-1968) 7.0 Cubic feet UPS 43.4 Prepared by Timothy H. Horning August 2014 The University Archives and Records Center 3401 Market Street, Suite 210 Philadelphia, PA 19104-3358 215.898.7024 Fax: 215.573.2036 www.archives.upenn.edu Mark Frazier Lloyd, Director Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 TABLE OF CONTENTS PROVENANCE...............................................................................................................................1 ARRANGEMENT...........................................................................................................................1 AGENCY HISTORY...................................................................................................................... 1 SCOPE AND CONTENT...............................................................................................................2 CONTROLLED ACCESS HEADINGS.........................................................................................3 INVENTORY.................................................................................................................................. 4 DELTA OF PENNSYLVANIA................................................................................................4 DELTA OF PENNSYLVANIA, WOMEN'S SECTION......................................................... 7 UNITED CHAPTERS OF PHI BETA KAPPA.....................................................................10 OTHER PHI BETA KAPPA CHAPTERS.............................................................................17 Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Guide to the Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records 1898-1972 (bulk 1935-1968) UPS 43.4 7.0 Cubic feet Prepared by Timothy H. Horning August 2014 Access is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center. PROVENANCE The records of Phi Beta Kappa were donated to the University Archives in 1968 (accession number 68/4), 1975 (accession number 75-5) and 2014 (accession number 2014:23). ARRANGEMENT The records of Phi Beta Kappa are organized into four series - Delta of Pennsylvania; Delta of Pennsylvania, Women's Section; United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa; and Other Phi Beta Kappa Chapters - each of which are arranged alphabetically. AGENCY HISTORY Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest undergraduate honor society in the United States. The first chapter was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia (Alpha of Virginia), followed by chapters at Yale (Alpha of Connecticut) in 1780 and Harvard (Alpha of Massachusetts) in 1781. The purpose of Phi Beta Kappa was to encourage academic achievement - 1 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 and a lifelong pursuit of learning. The name Phi Beta Kappa comes from the Greek phrase "Philosophia Biou Cybernetes" meaning "the love of wisdom is the guide of life." Early Phi Beta Kappa displayed many attributes that would in time come to be considered hallmarks of modern-day Greek letter fraternities – use of a Greek motto, governing rules for its members, initiation rituals for new members, and an oath of secrecy. Early Phi Beta Kappa also displayed characteristics of a traditional debating or literary society. However, during a wave of anti-secret society sentiment in 1830s America, chapters abandoned their secrecy oaths and focused solely on functioning as a scholastic honor society. The origins of Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Pennsylvania can be traced back to 1892 and George Egbert Fisher, a Professor of Mathematics (and later Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences), who had been elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a student at Cornell University. Professor Fisher submitted a charter for a University of Pennsylvania chapter to the Council of the United Chapters which was granted in September 1892. Following the established naming convention for new chapters, as the fourth chapter founded in Pennsylvania, the chapter at the University of Pennsylvania was called Delta of Pennsylvania. The initial membership consisted of members of University of Pennsylvania faculty who likely would have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa had they been alumni of institutions that had a chapter. At the end of the 1892-93 academic year the initial members elected the most academically gifted members of the departing senior class, a select few from the junior class, and a handful of honorary members. In 1935 a section for the College of Liberal Arts for Women was established. These were not separate chapters, as spelled out in the Delta of Pennsylvania's constitution and by-laws at the time, though the two sections did have their own officers, conducted independent elections, had separate finances, and maintained a separate correspondence with the United Chapters. SCOPE AND CONTENT The records of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta of Pennsylvania document the activities of the national honor society's chapter at the University of Pennsylvania mostly from the mid-1930s to the late-1960s. The documentation consists of correspondence, election results, handbooks, member lists, and reports. Similar material also exists for Delta of Pennsylvania's Women's Section. There is some material generated under the auspices of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the central and governing body of Phi Beta Kappa. This includes chapter manuals, constitution - 2 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 and by-laws, mailings to chapters, and significant runs of the Phi Beta Kappa Bulletin, distributed amongst chapter officers, and the Phi Beta Kappa Key, the United Chapters’ quarterly publication for news. Some documentation of other Phi Beta Kappa chapters exists, which is mostly chapter handbooks and member directories. CONTROLLED ACCESS HEADINGS Occupation(s) • University of Pennsylvania--Students. Personal Name(s) • Albrecht, Otto Edwin, 1899-1984 • Brownlee, Rebecca Jean, 1912-1995 Subject(s) • Greek letter societies--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia. • University of Pennsylvania--Societies, etc. - 3 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records 1898-1972 (bulk 1935-1968) UPS 43.4 Access is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center. INVENTORY DELTA OF PENNSYLVANIA Box Folder Address Service 1958-1960 1 1 Annual Reports to United Chapters 1932-1962 1 2 Associate Members 1938 1 3 Balfour Company 1954-1957 1 4 Bank Information 1936-1954 1 5 Candidate Lists 1931-1961 1 6 Carnegie Foundation Test 1928 1 7 Certificates 1954-1961 1 8 College for Women 1934-1942 1 9 Constitution and By-Laws 1925-1935, n.d. 1 10 Constitution and List of Members 1902 1 11 Correspondence 1898-1908 1 12 1909-1913 1 13 1914-1915 1 14 - 4 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 1916-1917 1 15 1918-1919 1 16 1920-1921 1 17 1922-1923 1 18 1924-1925 1 19 1926-1936 1 20 1937-1947 1 21 1961-1973 1 22 n.d. 1 23 District Meetings 1928-1960 1 24 Elections 1907-1910 1 25 1910-1913 1 26 1913-1914 1 27 1914-1918 1 28 1918-1919 1 29 1919-1923 1 30 1924-1962 1 31 n.d. 1 32 Honorary 1902-1925 1 33 Electoral Board 1934-1961 1 34 Elmaleh Prize 1945-1960 1 35 Faculty 1955-1961 1 36 History of Delta of Pennsylvania Chapter 1909 1 37 - 5 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Honorary Members 1927-1960 1 38 Initiations for Other Chapters 1926-1955 2 1 Installation of a Section in the College of Liberal Arts for Women 1935 2 2 Library 1935-1960 2 3 Life Members 1941-1944 2 4 Mailing Lists 1934-1945 2 5 Meeting Announcements 1927-1960 2 6 Member List c. 1898 2 7 Member List 1904 2 8 Member List 1920 2 9 Minutes 1923-1930 2 10 Necrology 1929-1962 2 11 Permanent Organization Election Laws 1944-1945 2 12 Phi Beta Kappa Association of Philadelphia 1917-1937 2 13 Phi Beta Kappa Award 1928 2 14 Proposed By-Laws n.d. 2 15 Scholarship Conference 1928 2 16 Secretary's Reports 1902-1914 2 17 Treasurer's Book 1947 2 18 Treasurer's Reports 1902-1913 2 19 Treasurer's Reports 1926-1938 2 20 Treasurer's Reports 1944-1946, 1949, 1955-1960, 1965 2 21 Triennial Councils 1931-1958 2 22 Visiting Scholar Program 1957-1963 2 23 - 6 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 DELTA OF PENNSYLVANIA, WOMEN'S SECTION Box Folder Annual Reports to United Chapters 1935-1964 2 24 By-Laws 1935-1965 2 25 Charter Members 1935 2 26 Correspondence 1935 2 27 1936-1940 2 28 1941-1963 2 29 Carl Billman 1958-1962 2 30 Speakers 1937-1941 2 31 Elections Spring 1935 2 32 Fall 1935 2 33 Spring 1936 2 34 Fall 1936 2 35 Spring 1937 2 36 Spring 1938 2 37 Fall 1938 2 38 Spring 1939 2 39 Fall 1939 2 40 Spring 1940 2 41 Fall 1940 2 42 Spring 1941 2 43 Fall 1941 2 44 - 7 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Spring 1942 2 45 Fall 1942 2 46 Spring 1943 2 47 Fall 1943 2 48 Spring 1944 2 49 Fall 1944 2 50 Spring 1945 2 51 Fall 1945 2 52 Spring 1946 2 53 Fall 1946 2 54 Spring 1947 3 1 Fall 1947 3 2 Spring 1948 3 3 Fall 1948 3 4 Spring 1949 3 5 Fall 1949 3 6 Spring 1950 3 7 Fall 1950 3 8 Spring 1951 3 9 Fall 1951 3 10 Spring 1952 3 11 Fall 1952 3 12 Spring 1953 3 13 Fall 1953 3 14 - 8 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Spring 1954 3 15 Fall 1954 3 16 Spring 1955 3 17 Fall 1955 3 18 Spring 1956 3 19 Fall 1956 3 20 Spring 1957 3 21 Fall 1957 3 22 Spring 1958 3 23 Fall 1958 3 24 Spring 1959 3 25 Fall 1959 3 26 Spring 1960 3 27 Spring 1961 3 28 Spring 1962 3 29 Spring 1963 3 30 Spring 1964 3 31 Fall 1964, Spring 1965 3 32 Fall 1965 3 33 Spring 1966 3 34 Fall 1966 3 35 Spring 1967 3 36 Fall 1967 3 37 Acceptances 1935 3 38 - 9 - Phi Beta Kappa. Delta of Pennsylvania Records UPS 43.4 Honorary and Alumnae Considered Spring 1939 3 39 Refusals 1935-1946 3 40 Requests for Election 1935 3 41 Essay Contest 1941 3 42 Faculty 1965 3 43 Installation of a Section in the College of Liberal Arts for Women 1935 3 44 Key Orders 1960-1963 3 45 Member List n.d.