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Pi Tau Pi Fraternity Records

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Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
SCRC 404
Repository:
Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
Extent:
4.0 linear feet (4 boxes + 2 map folders)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Pi Tau Pi Fraternity Records, SCRC 404, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Date:
1908-2010 (inclusive) and 1947-1967 (bulk)
Creator:
Pi Tau Pi Fraternity
Form:
Administrative records, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws (administrative records), Clippings, Correspondence, Directories, Ephemera, Financial records, Histories (literary works), Membership lists, Minutes (administrative records), Newsletters, Photographs, Reports, and Souvenir programs
Abstract:

Fred Wolff, Al V. Levy, Harry Oppenheimer, and R. W. Apte established the Pi Tau Pi Fraternity on November 9, 1909, in St. Louis, Missouri. Initially a local society, in 1912 it became a national society after the addition of chapters in Baltimore, MD, Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN, and Cincinnati, OH. Pi Tau Pi was a lifetime fraternal organization established "to promote and encourage Judaism; to advance Hebraic culture; to aid in the abolishment of prejudice against the Jew; and to further activities social and philanthropic." The fraternity's bulletin Aloto Pep, later renamed The Pitaupian in 1919, was the official organ of Pi Tau Pi. Hai Resh Fraternity, founded in 1907 in St. Joseph, MO, merged with Pi Tau Pi in 1937. Organized in 1914, the Philadelphia Chapter organized was known as the Beta Lambda Chapter. Charles Kahn, Jr., joined the Philadelphia Chapter as a high school student in 1939 and later served as national vice president and then president from 1949 to 1951. The fraternity formally dissolved in 1967, but continued to hold periodic reunions for members.

The Pi Tau Pi Fraternity Records consist of records from the national office and chapters gathered by Charles Kahn Jr. The collection contains a near complete run of fraternity bulletins published from 1914 to 1967 and rosters of members from 1919 to 1967; correspondence, planning materials, souvenir programs, fliers, invitations, and related ephemera from conclaves, Pi Tau Pi's annual conference; photographs of fraternity gatherings and events; correspondence, meeting minutes, and other records produced by chapters, most notably the Denver and Philadelphia chapters; and administrative correspondence from national officers, primarily from 1949 to 1951. The collection also includes a small amount of records from reunions held by fraternity members.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Donated by Charles Kahn, Jr., in December 1988, 1990, 2007, and 2011. The bulk of the collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.

Collection partially processed and inventoried by Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center staff circa 1990 during which most folders were replaced and relabeled. Folder titles and dates added to unlabeled and loose materials and finding aid prepared in February 2019 by Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist, with assistance from Victoria Nichols, student assistant.

People
Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
Finding Aid Author
Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
Finding Aid Date
May 2024
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

The Pi Tau Pi Fraternity Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The creator has not assigned their rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators' intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Collection Inventory

Baltimore Chapter souvenir programs and correspondence, 1913-1915, 1955.
Box 1 Folder 1
Baltimore, MD conclave, 1951.
Box 1 Folder 2
Baton Rouge Chapter certificate, 1919.
Map Folder M2d
Bulletins: Aloto Pep, 1914-1915.
Box 1 Folder 3
Bulletins: Aloto Pep, 1916.
Box 1 Folder 4
Bulletins: Aloto Pep and The Pitaupian, 1917-1919.
Box 1 Folder 5
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1920-1922.
Box 1 Folder 6
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1923-1940.
Box 1 Folder 7
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1941-1943.
Box 1 Folder 8
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1944-1946.
Box 1 Folder 9
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1947-1949.
Box 1 Folder 10
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1947-1965.
Box 1 Folder 11
Bulletins: The Pitaupian, 1950-1967.
Box 1 Folder 12
Conclaves: General, 1922, 1935-1957, undated.
Box 1 Folder 13
Conclaves: General, 1940-1957, undated.
Box 2 Folder 1
Conclaves: Advisory Committee correspondence, 1950-1951.
Box 2 Folder 2
Conclaves: chapter pins, 1941-1949, undated.
Box 2 Folder 3
Conclaves: correspondence, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 4
Conclaves: correspondence, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 5
Conclaves: correspondence and reports, 1949.
Box 2 Folder 6
Conclaves: correspondence and souvenir programs, 1950.
Box 2 Folder 7
Conclaves: correspondence, Winter, William, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 8
Conclaves: Date Committee correspondence and lists, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 9
Conclaves: ephemera, 1942-1951, undated.
Box 2 Folder 10
Conclaves: meeting minutes and souvenir programs, 1920-1922.
Box 2 Folder 11
Conclaves: meeting minutes and souvenir programs, 1923.
Box 2 Folder 12
Conclaves: souvenir programs, 1946-1959.
Box 2 Folder 13
Constitution, bylaws, and initiation rituals, 1920, 1923, 1940-1956.
Box 2 Folder 14
Correspondence: General, 1945-1948.
Box 2 Folder 15
Correspondence: General, 1947-1953.
Box 2 Folder 16
Correspondence: General, 1947-1953.
Box 2 Folder 17
Correspondence: Cooper, Sidney, treasurer, 1950-1951.
Box 2 Folder 18
Correspondence: Goldsmith, Mortimer, president, 1949-1951.
Box 2 Folder 19
Correspondence: Kahn, Charles Jr., vice president, 1949-1951.
Box 3 Folder 1
Correspondence: Kanter, H. Lee, secretary, 1950-1951.
Box 3 Folder 2
Correspondence: Katz, David, president, 1949-1951.
Box 3 Folder 3
Correspondence: Milder, Myron H., treasurer, 1949-1950.
Box 3 Folder 4
Correspondence: national secretary, 1920-1924, 1943-1950.
Box 3 Folder 5
Correspondence: Rubel, Al, Jr., counselor, 1949-1950.
Box 3 Folder 6
Correspondence: Scharff, Dan G., Jr., national historian, 1949-1951.
Box 3 Folder 7
Correspondence: Schembeck, Leon, Sr. counselor, 1949.
Box 3 Folder 8
Dance cards, 1921-1923.
Box 3 Folder 9
Denver Chapter: correspondence, 1921-1924, 1938.
Box 3 Folder 10
Denver Chapter: correspondence, 1946-1949, undated.
Box 3 Folder 11
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Freidman, Arthur S., 1921.
Box 3 Folder 12
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Winter, Henry, 1908, 1917-1923.
Box 3 Folder 13
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Winter, William, 1943-1950.
Box 3 Folder 14
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Winter, William, 1947-1949.
Box 3 Folder 15
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Winter, William, 1951.
Box 3 Folder 16
Denver Chapter: correspondence, Winter, William, 1952-1960.
Box 3 Folder 17
Denver Chapter: meeting minutes, 1923-1924.
Box 3 Folder 18
Denver Chapter: photograph album, 1918.
Box 3 Folder 19
Denver Chapter: pledges, 1917-1921.
Box 3 Folder 20
Denver Chapter: scrapbook, 1917-1918.
Box 3 Folder 21
Denver Chapter: treasurers' reports, receipts, and statements, 1917-1924.
Box 3 Folder 22
Election mailings, 1919-1920.
Box 3 Folder 23
Fliers, invitations, and printed ephemera, 1922, 1940-1959.
Box 3 Folder 24
Fliers, invitations, and printed ephemera, 1942-1958.
Box 3 Folder 25
Four chaplains, 1975, 1980, 1981.
Box 4 Folder 1
History, 1947-1950.
Box 4 Folder 2
Juniors: The Fun Pi Tau, 1920-1922.
Box 4 Folder 3
Newsletters: miscellaneous chapters, 1915, 1923, 1924.
Box 4 Folder 4
Philadelphia Chapter: correspondence and reports, 1940-1967.
Box 4 Folder 5
Philadelphia Chapter: correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports, 1947-1960.
Box 4 Folder 6
Philadelphia Chapter members, undated.
Box 4 Folder 7
Photographs, 1919, 1947-1953, undated.
Box 4 Folder 8
Photographs, 1946-1948.
Map Folder M2d
Photographs, 1951, undated.
Box 4 Folder 9
Photographs, 1951, 1979, undated.
Box 4 Folder 10
Pi Tau Pi songs, 1924, 1956, undated.
Box 4 Folder 11
The Pitaupian correspondence: Rosenthal, Roy G., managing editor, 1950-1951.
Box 4 Folder 12
The Pitaupian correspondence: Tobolowsky, Edwin, editor, 1949-1951.
Box 4 Folder 13
The Pitaupian editorial, undated.
Box 4 Folder 14
Reports: presidents, 1923, 1924.
Box 4 Folder 15
Reunion Conclave correspondence and newsletters, 1987-1988, 2010.
Box 4 Folder 16
Richmond, VA Chapter souvenir programs, 1919-1922.
Box 4 Folder 17
Rosters, 1919-1929.
Box 4 Folder 18
Rosters, 1931-1939.
Box 4 Folder 19
Rosters, 1941-1950.
Box 4 Folder 20
Rosters, 1950-1967.
Box 4 Folder 21

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