Joseph L. Pollock Papers

Joseph L. Pollock, born March 7, 1922, in Philadelphia, was a social studies teacher, principal, and administrator for the Philadelphia School District from 1947 until his retirement in 1984. From December 1950 to September 1951, he served as executive director of Citizens for a Free City College, an organization dedicated to creating free higher education in Philadelphia. In the 1950s and 1960s, he wrote and produced radio and television programs for the Philadelphia School District's Division of Radio-Television Education. In the 1960s, Pollock worked for the School District of Philadelphia, Board of Education, first as assistant to the president of the Board of Public Education (1962-1964), and then as director of informational services (1964-1968). In 1968, he was appointed as the superintendent of schools for the Scranton School District, but resigned after less than a year.

Pollock graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1940. While a student there, he served as president of the Interscholastic League of Student Associations and chairman of the first city-wide Interscholastic League Convention. Pollock enrolled at West Chester State Teachers College in 1940, but temporarily suspended his studies to serve in the United States Army during WWII. After V-E Day, Pollock co-wrote a burlesque production of Bizet's opera Carmen with fellow soldier Fredd Wayne. Originally intended as a three-day regimental show, G.I. Carmen, performed by combat veterans of the 63rd Infantry Division, became a traveling show with performances in Heidelberg, Wiesbaden, and Paris, among other places during the latter half of 1945.

Pollock returned to West Chester State Teachers College after military service, graduating with a bachelor of science in secondary education in 1947. He received a master of science in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949. Pollock co-founded the West Philadelphia High Alumni Association and served as its president and honorary president for many years. He was a freemason and was elected to the position of worshipful master of the Lafayette Lodge No. 71 in 1977. Joseph L. Pollock died April 7, 2004.

The Joseph L. Pollock Papers include correspondence, reports, speeches, photographs, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, newsletters, scrapbooks, and audiovisual materials documenting Pollock's work in Philadelphia public schools, the School District of Philadelphia, Board of Education, and Scranton School District. The collection also documents his activities with fraternities, masonic lodges, student government, youth groups, and Jewish communal organizations; and Pollock's World War II military service including photographs, broadsides, newspaper clippings, and programs of his infantry's performances of G.I. Carmen.

The collection is arranged into 4 series as follows:

• Series 1: Professional career, 1937-1986
• Subseries 1.1: Philadelphia School District, 1937-1986
• Subseries 1.2: Scranton School District, 1965-1970
• Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1989
• Series 3: Civic and fraternal organizations, 1921-1988
• Series 4: Personal papers, 1933-1988

Donated by Joseph L. Pollock in 1988 and 1990. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.

Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared in August 2019 by Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist with assistance by Victoria Nichols, student assistant. Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center staff replaced and relabeled all folders in collection after donation. The majority of folder titles throughout the collection were edited by the archivist for the sake of clarity and description enhancement. This involved the addition of formats, names, and/or dates along with the rearrangement of descriptive words used.

Helen Oakes Papers, Acc. 995, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Helen Oakes Papers, SCRC 17, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John N. Patterson Papers, URB 18, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

School District of Philadelphia, Pa. junior high and high school yearbooks originally donated with the collection, cataloged separately in Temple University's online library catalog.

Use

The Joseph L. Pollock Papers are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The creator/donor 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.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Joseph L. Pollock Papers, SCRC 417, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Publisher

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Finding aids author

Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.

Date

February 2024

Creator

Pollock, Joseph L. (Joseph Leonard), 1922-2004

Subject

Carmen (Bizet, Georges) -- Parodies, imitations, etc

Education -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Education -- Pennsylvania -- Scranton

Fraternal organizations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Greek letter societies

High school students

Jewish teachers

Junior high school students

Public schools -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Public schools -- Pennsylvania -- Scranton

School administrators

World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish

Organization

School District of Philadelphia, Pa.

School District of Philadelphia, Pa. Board of Public Education

Scranton School District

Place

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Scranton (Pa.)

Language

English

Dutch; Flemish

French

Lao

Spanish; Castilian

Yiddish

Form

16mm (photographic film size)

Administrative records

Articles of Incorporation

Audiocassettes

Broadsides (notices)

Bylaws (administrative records)

Clippings

Correspondence

Diaries

Ephemera

Financial records

Manuscripts

Minutes (administrative records)

Newsletters

Oral histories

Pamphlets

Petitions

Photocopies

Photographs

Posters

Press releases

Radio scripts

Reports

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Souvenir programs

Speeches (documents)

U-matic

video recordings (physical artifacts)