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Laura Ruth Murray Klein Papers

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center [Contact Us]3401 Market Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records 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

Laura Ruth "Patsy" Murray Klein was born in Philadelphia on February 14, 1910, the daughter of Robert Murray and Laura Mosebach Murray. She attended Frankford High School prior to entering the University of Pennsylvania's School of Education in 1927.

Klein participated in many student organizations as an undergraduate, including Glee, Radio Plays, Dance, and Drama, and was the only first-year woman on the varsity debate team, eventually serving as team captain and manager. She was also a member of the Chi Omega sorority. While the School of Education was the only undergraduate school at Penn offering full-time study for women, Klein took full advantage of the opportunity to enroll in courses offered by other schools at the University. Elected to the honorary society Pi Lambda Theta for Education, she was also inducted into Pi Gamma Mu for Social Studies and Economics as a result of her varied coursework.

Graduating in 1931, Klein would later be honored as a charter alumna member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1934. This is when the national honorary society's Penn chapter established a women's section. Klein was the recipient of a University Scholarship in English to the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, from which she received her master's degree in English in 1933. She completed her Ph.D. in English ten years later, when it was still rare for women to enter Penn's Ph.D. program.

Laura Ruth "Patsy" Murray was married to Randolph S. Klein, a graduate of the Wharton School, Class of 1929, and a Philadelphia attorney, in 1934. Their son, Randolph, Jr. (C' 63), was born in 1942 while Klein was earning her Ph.D., and their daughter Linda was born in 1945. Randolph, Sr., passed away in 1954 at the age of 47.

Klein began her career at Dr. Lightner Witmer's school in Devon, PA. She continued on to teach English at Olney High School, Germantown High School, and South Philadelphia High School for Boys before transitioning to an administrative career as Vice Principal of John Bartram High School and later Principal at Tilden Junior High School. The highlight of Klein's career was her tenure as Principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls from 1963 to 1976, which she described as "particularly challenging." Her years at Girls' High spanned the turbulent times of the sixties through to the Philadelphia bicentennial of 1976. In describing the school for a 1983 interview Klein noted, "This is a school that has a responsibility to experiment and to change...in fact, one of Girls' High's traditions is changing with the times."

The post of Principal of Girls' High was considered by many at the time to be the pinnacle of high school principalships open to women. Klein believed that girls are equally as intellectually curious as boys, and during her time at the school she introduced the Additional Instructional Hour Program which allowed each student to take an extra elective chosen from a wide variety of subjects. She also implemented the Study-Action in Philadelphia Program, encouraging seniors to participate in internships throughout the city as part of their learning experience.

Klein was a dedicated alumna of the University of Pennsylvania throughout her life. She served as National President of the Association of Alumnae and Vice President of the General Alumni Association in addition to President of the Philadelphia branch of the American Association of University Women. Further, Klein served as Honorary President of the Class of 1931 for many years and also maintained her commitment to Phi Beta Kappa as President of the Delta Chapter and the Women's Association. In 1949, in recognition of her distinguished service to the University of Pennsylvania, Klein was the first woman to receive the University's Alumni Award of Merit.

After retiring from Girls' High, Klein became President and Chair of the Board of the Please Touch Museum, at the time the only museum in the nation designed especially for young children. She was involved with the Museum from its founding and was a committed advocate for its growth as a member of its capital campaign committee. In 1983 Klein was honored as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania for her outstanding service to the community.

The Laura Ruth Murray Klein Papers document just a few of the organizations and activities that this multi-faceted woman engaged in over her lifetime.

The bulk of the material comes from Klein's participation with the national honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Initially honored as one of the first women members of the society's Penn chapter, Klein and other college-educated women from Philadelphia and the surrounding area established the all-female Gamma Association of Phi Beta Kappa in 1940. The records in this series of the collection detail the pivotal role that Klein played in the Gamma Association. She served terms as president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, and secretary over the course of more than fifty years. Many of the records included within the papers come as a result of her time spent in these positions. In addition, Klein spent many years as chair of the organizing committee of the association's bi-annual dinner meetings, sometimes even opening up her own home as the designated meeting place. The papers also detail Gamma Association's annual Book Award. Every year the members of Gamma Association chose college-bound young women from each high school in Philadelphia, and many suburban schools as well, to honor upon their high school graduation with the gift of a specially selected book thought to assist them in their future academic endeavors. Hundreds of young women received this honor over the years.

Phi Beta Kappa Gamma Association and the all-male Phi Beta Kappa Association of Philadelphia occasionally held joint dinner meetings in the 1960s and 1970s but remained two distinct groups. By the late 1970s the two groups were discussing the idea of uniting and becoming a single, co-ed association. In 1986 the two groups officially became one under the name Phi Beta Kappa Association of the Delaware Valley. The papers record the process of the unification of the two associations and chart some of the activities of the Association of the Delaware Valley, though not in as much detail as with the Gamma Association.

The United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the national governing body of the honor society, is also represented within the papers. The papers record the triennial meetings of the United Chapters, at which Klein served as the official Pennsylvania delegate in 1976, and includes many issues of the official United Chapters' newsletter, The Key Reporter, covering the years 1946-1988.

The University of Pennsylvania Class of 1931 series documents Klein's involvement as a Penn alumnus. These records date mostly from the 1980s and the bulk pertain to the organization of bi-annual meetings and an annual holiday luncheon, events that Klein often served as one of the main organizers.

Klein was also a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional honor society of female educators. The group that comprised women residing in Pennsylvania and of which Klein was a member of was called the Alpha Alpha State. These records date from the early to mid 1960s and contain information on Alpha Alpha State members, announcements and notices to members from both Alpha Alpha State and the Delta Kappa Gamma national headquarters, and papers from Klein's term as president of Alpha Alpha State from 1962-1964.

Small pieces of information exist for other organizations and activities Klein was a part of, and these documents have been grouped in the series titled Other Associations, Awards, Correspondence, and Events. Probably the most prominent, and for which the most documentation exists for in this series, are the documents pertaining to Klein being named by Governor Thornburgh as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania in 1983.

Finally, the Miscellaneous series is comprised of all the material that did not fit into the previous series. Most of this are cards which seem to have come from a rolodex or address book. There are also name-tags which were used at a Phi Beta Kappa event, and two pieces of memorabilia, a pin and a sash that are from the Old Guard Presidents Meetings in 1991 or 1992.

The papers have been divided into five series and arranged alphabetically or chronologically where appropriate.

The Laura Ruth Murray Klein papers were accessioned as a gift to the University in 2011.

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Finding Aid Author
Timothy H. Horning and Alyssa Sheldon
Finding Aid Date
March 2012

Collection Inventory

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Address book, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 1
Anniversary address, "The Spirit of '76 and the Barbarian Culture, 1951.
Box 1 Folder 2
Annual reports to United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, 1939, 1941-1953.
Box 1 Folder 3
Board Meetings, 1960, 1971, 1977-1980.
Box 1 Folder 4
By-laws and amendments to by-laws, 1959, 1974, 1978-1979.
Box 1 Folder 5
Charter Members, c. 1940-1946.
Box 6 Folder 2
Charter and Constitution, 1939-1941.
Box 6 Folder 3
Correspondence, 1945-1947.
Box 6 Folder 4
Dues, 1941-1944.
Box 6 Folder 5
Financial Information, 1961, 1964, 1970-1977.
Box 1 Folder 6
Fourtieth Anniversary of Gamma Association, 1980.
Box 1 Folder 7
General File (1/3), 1939-1980.
Box 1 Folder 8
General File (2/3), 1939-1980.
Box 1 Folder 9
General File (3/3), 1960, 1970, 1976-1980.
Box 1 Folder 10
Ideas for Guest Speakers, 1979-1980.
Box 1 Folder 11
Interviews with members, 1976.
Box 1 Folder 12
Investments summaries, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976-1980.
Box 1 Folder 13
Meetings, 1946-1949.
Box 6 Folder 6
Membership lists, 1953-54, 1958-59, 1970-71, 1976-78.
Box 1 Folder 14
Minutes, 1944-1947.
Box 6 Folder 7
Minutes, notices, reports, 1960-1969.
Box 1 Folder 15
Miscellaneous, 1949.
Box 6 Folder 8
Miscellaneous, 1960-61, 1964-65, 1967, 1977.
Box 1 Folder 16
Phi Beta Kappa Assn. of Philadelphia (men's chapter of PBK), 1979-1982.
Box 1 Folder 17
Presidents and charter members, c. 1961.
Box 1 Folder 18
President's file, 1955-1959.
Box 1 Folder 19
President's file, 1959-1960.
Box 1 Folder 20
Questionnaire I, 1974.
Box 1 Folder 21
Roll Book, c. 1977-1983.
Box 1 Folder 22
Secretary's File, 1939-1949.
Box 1 Folder 23
Secretary's File, 1950-1959.
Box 1 Folder 24
Secretary's File, 1960-1964.
Box 1 Folder 25
Session, 1959.
Box 1 Folder 26
Treasurer's Book, 1940-1952.
Box 1 Folder 27
Treasurer's File, 1939-1942.
Box 6 Folder 9
Treasurer's report, 1948, 1965-1971, 1977-1979.
Box 1 Folder 28
Women's Phi Beta Kappa Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity, 1939.
Box 6 Folder 10
Folder I.
Box 1 Folder 29
Folder II.
Box 1 Folder 30
Folder III.
Box 1 Folder 31
Folder IV.
Box 1 Folder 32
Folder V.
Box 1 Folder 33
Folder VI.
Box 1 Folder 34
Questionnaire totals.
Box 1 Folder 35
RSVP cards, 1938, 1949.
Box 1 Folder 36
Fall Meeting, 1952.
Box 1 Folder 37
Spring Meeting, 1953.
Box 1 Folder 38
Fall Meeting, 1953.
Box 1 Folder 39
Spring Meeting, 1954.
Box 1 Folder 40
Fall Meeting, 1954.
Box 2 Folder 1
Spring Meeting, 1955.
Box 2 Folder 2
Fall Meeting, 1955.
Box 2 Folder 3
Spring Meeting, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 4
Fall Meeting, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 5
Spring Meeting, 1957.
Box 2 Folder 6
Fall Meeting, 1957.
Box 2 Folder 7
Spring Meeting, 1958.
Box 2 Folder 8
Fall Meeting, 1958.
Box 2 Folder 9
Spring Meeting, 1959.
Box 2 Folder 10
Fall Meeting, 1959.
Box 2 Folder 11
Spring Meeting, 1960.
Box 2 Folder 12
Fall Meeting (20th Anniversary of Gamma Association), 1960.
Box 2 Folder 13
Spring Meeting, 1961.
Box 2 Folder 14
Fall Meeting, 1961.
Box 2 Folder 15
Fall Meeting, 1962.
Box 2 Folder 16
Spring Meeting, 1963.
Box 2 Folder 17
Fall Meeting, 1963.
Box 2 Folder 18
Spring Meeting, 1964.
Box 2 Folder 19
Fall Meeting, 1964.
Box 2 Folder 20
Fall Meeting, 1965.
Box 2 Folder 21
Spring Meeting, 1966.
Box 2 Folder 22
Spring Meeting, 1967.
Box 2 Folder 23
Fall Meeting, 1967.
Box 2 Folder 24
Spring Meeting, 1968.
Box 2 Folder 25
Fall Meeting, 1968.
Box 2 Folder 26
Spring Meeting, 1969.
Box 2 Folder 27
Fall Meeting, 1969.
Box 2 Folder 28
Spring Meeting, 1970.
Box 2 Folder 29
Fall Meeting, 1970.
Box 2 Folder 30
Spring Meeting, 1971.
Box 2 Folder 31
Fall Meeting, 1971.
Box 2 Folder 32
Spring Meeting, 1972.
Box 2 Folder 33
Spring Meeting, 1973.
Box 2 Folder 35
Winter Meeting, 1973.
Box 2 Folder 34
Spring Meeting, 1974.
Box 2 Folder 36
Fall Meeting, 1974.
Box 2 Folder 37
Fall Meeting, 1975.
Box 2 Folder 38
Spring Meeting, 1976.
Box 2 Folder 39
Bicentennial Celebration and meeting, 1976.
Box 2 Folder 40
RSVPs to dinner meetings, 1976-1977.
Box 2 Folder 41
RSVPs to dinner meetings, 1976-1977.
Box 2 Folder 42
Spring Meeting, 1977.
Box 2 Folder 43
Fall Meeting, 1977.
Box 2 Folder 44
Spring Meeting, 1978.
Box 2 Folder 45
Fall Meeting, 1978.
Box 2 Folder 46
Spring Meeting, 1979.
Box 2 Folder 47
Fall Meeting, 1979.
Box 2 Folder 48
Dinner RSVPs, 1979.
Box 2 Folder 49
Spring Meeting (40th Anniversary of Gamma Association), 1980.
Box 2 Folder 50
Spring Meeting, 1981.
Box 2 Folder 51
Spring Meeting, 1983.
Box 2 Folder 52
Dinner RSVPs, unknown years.
Box 2 Folder 53
Book Award documents, 1941-1950.
Box 6 Folder 1
Book Award documents, 1973.
Box 2 Folder 56
Committee Report, 1946, 1950-1967, 1970-1975, 1977, 1979-1980, 1984.
Box 2 Folder 54
Book Award controversy, 1962.
Box 2 Folder 55
Book Award documents, 1974.
Box 3 Folder 1
Book Award documents, 1975.
Box 3 Folder 2
Book Award documents, 1976.
Box 3 Folder 3
Book Award documents, 1978.
Box 3 Folder 4
Book Award documents, 1979.
Box 3 Folder 5
Book Award documents, 1987.
Box 3 Folder 6
Book Award recipients, 1970-1973.
Box 3 Folder 7
Book Award Thank You letters, 1972.
Box 3 Folder 8
1960-1962.
Box 3 Folder 9
1962-1969.
Box 3 Folder 10
1974-1975.
Box 3 Folder 11
1974-1975.
Box 3 Folder 12
By-laws, c. 1986.
Box 3 Folder 13
Correspondence, 1986.
Box 3 Folder 14
General files, 1984-1986.
Box 3 Folder 15
General files, 1987-1988.
Box 3 Folder 16
Merger of men's and women's chapters, 1979-1984.
Box 3 Folder 17
Program Committee files, 1985.
Box 3 Folder 18
Spring Meeting, 1986.
Box 3 Folder 19
Spring Meeting, 1987.
Box 3 Folder 20
Associates directories, 1963, 1965.
Box 3 Folder 21
Constitution and by-laws, 1973, 1976.
Box 3 Folder 22
Handbook for new members, c. 1973.
Box 3 Folder 23
History of Phi Beta Kappa, by Oscar M. Vorhees, 1945.
Box 3 Folder 24
Miscellaneous, 1959, 1968.
Box 3 Folder 25
Phi Beta Kappa Bulletin, 1941-1956.
Box 3 Folder 26
Phi Beta Kappa Bulletin, 1985.
Box 3 Folder 27
Voluntary Annual Payments, 1942.
Box 6 Folder 14
1946, 1948-1949.
Box 3 Folder 28
1950-1959.
Box 3 Folder 29
1960, 1964-1965, 1969.
Box 3 Folder 30
1970-1974.
Box 3 Folder 31
1975-1979.
Box 3 Folder 32
1980, 1987, 1988.
Box 3 Folder 33
1946 (1).
Box 3 Folder 34
1946 (2).
Box 6 Folder 11
1949.
Box 6 Folder 12
1958.
Box 3 Folder 35
1961.
Box 3 Folder 36
1976.
Box 3 Folder 37
1979.
Box 3 Folder 38
1985.
Box 3 Folder 39
delegate's manual, 1985.
Box 3 Folder 40
1988.
Box 3 Folder 41
Abreviations of Chapters, 1958.
Box 7 Folder 1
Associates, 1980.
Box 7 Folder 2
Associates, 2009.
Box 7 Folder 3
Associates: An Interpretation, 1940.
Box 7 Folder 4
Brochure, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 5
Bulletin, 1940-1980.
Box 7 Folder 6
Burdick, Marian, 1960.
Box 7 Folder 7
Communications, 1957-1965.
Box 7 Folder 8
Constitution and By-Laws of teh United Chapters, 1955, 1958.
Box 7 Folder 9
Correspondence, 1987.
Box 7 Folder 10
Defense Fund for the Humanities and Intellectual Freedom, Preliminary Report, 1940 September 30.
Box 7 Folder 11
Delegates Manual, 1979.
Box 7 Folder 12
Dinner RSVPs, 1957.
Box 7 Folder 13
Gamma Association Secretary, 1964 December 17.
Box 7 Folder 14
Handbook for New Members, 1943, 1948.
Box 7 Folder 15
Hastings, William T. Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society with its Relations to Freemasonry and Antimasonry, 1965.
Box 7 Folder 16
James, Effie, 1960-1963.
Box 7 Folder 17
Key Reporter, 1952.
Box 7 Folder 18
Louisiana Delegates, 1979.
Box 7 Folder 19
Materials Obtainable from Headquarters, 1941-1960.
Box 7 Folder 20
Meetings, 1984-1986.
Box 7 Folder 21
Middle Atlantic District, 1960 April 9.
Box 7 Folder 22
United Chapters Correspondence, 1949-1955.
Box 7 Folder 23
Wartime Policy of Phi Beta Kappa, 1943.
Box 7 Folder 24

Benjamin Franklin Society, 1982-1983.
Box 7 Folder 25
"Can You Tell us About Pennsylvania Women?" VHS Tape, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 26
Coffee Hour, 1959.
Box 7 Folder 27
Correspondence, 1962-1964.
Box 4 Folder 1
Ephemera, 1963-1991.
Box 7 Folder 28
Executive Board, 1963.
Box 7 Folder 29
Fiftieth Reunion Letter, 1981 January 15.
Box 7 Folder 30
Fourtieth Reunion Program, 1971 May 22.
Box 7 Folder 31
Freshman Handbook, 1927-1928.
Box 7 Folder 32
Lists of Class of 1931 members, 1980, 1984-85, 1992.
Box 4 Folder 2
Miscellaneous alumni documents, 1983-1987.
Box 4 Folder 3
Miscellaneous Penn documents, 1981, 1989-1992.
Box 4 Folder 4
Newsletters, 1976, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 5
Old Guard Class Presidents Meetings, 1991-1992.
Box 4 Folder 6
Penn Fund, 1990-1991.
Box 4 Folder 7
Photographs, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 33
Reunion files of Clare McDonnell, 1984-1986.
Box 4 Folder 8
Questionaire, 1966.
Box 7 Folder 34
"Remembering Dear Old Penn" Lyrics, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 35
Twenty Fifth Reuion Program, 1956.
Box 7 Folder 36
Women's Hey Day Program, 1964 April 16.
Box 7 Folder 37
Fortieth Reunion, 1971.
Box 4 Folder 9
Fall Meeting, 1980.
Box 4 Folder 10
Fiftieth Reunion, 1981.
Box 4 Folder 11
Meetings, 1982-1983.
Box 4 Folder 12
Spring and Fall Meetings, 1984.
Box 4 Folder 13
Holiday Luncheon, 1984.
Box 4 Folder 14
Spring Meeting, 1986.
Box 4 Folder 15
Fifty-fifth Reunion, 1986.
Box 4 Folder 16
Holiday Luncheon, 1986.
Box 4 Folder 18
Fall Meeting, 1986.
Box 4 Folder 17
Spring Meeting, 1987.
Box 4 Folder 19
Fall Meeting, 1987.
Box 4 Folder 20
Holiday Luncheon, 1987.
Box 4 Folder 21
Spring Meeting, 1988.
Box 4 Folder 22
Fall Meeting, 1988.
Box 4 Folder 23
Holiday Luncheon, 1988.
Box 4 Folder 24
Fall Meeting, 1989.
Box 4 Folder 25
Fall Meeting, 1990.
Box 4 Folder 26
Sixtieth Reunion, 1991.
Box 4 Folder 27
Fall Meeting, 1991.
Box 4 Folder 28
Spring Meeting, 1992.
Box 4 Folder 29

Brief History of the First Twenty-five Years, 1962.
Box 7 Folder 38
Bulletin, 1961-1962.
Box 7 Folder 39
Bulletin, 1963-1964.
Box 4 Folder 30
Bulletin, 1964.
Box 7 Folder 40
By-Laws, 1958-1959.
Box 7 Folder 41
By-Laws, 1963-1964.
Box 7 Folder 42
Christmas Luncheon, 1963.
Box 7 Folder 43
Circular of Information, 1962-1964.
Box 7 Folder 44
Communication from DKP International HQ, 1962-1963.
Box 4 Folder 31
Communications, 1957-1964.
Box 7 Folder 45
Communications, 1961-1963.
Box 7 Folder 46
Communications, 1963-1964.
Box 7 Folder 47
Correspondence, 1962-1963.
Box 4 Folder 32
Constitution Revision Alpha, 1963.
Box 7 Folder 48
Directory, 1960-1961.
Box 7 Folder 49
Directory, 1962-1964.
Box 7 Folder 50
Executive Committee Reports, 1963-1964.
Box 4 Folder 33
International Convention, 1962 August.
Box 7 Folder 51
International Directory, 1961-1962.
Box 7 Folder 52
International Handbook, 1958.
Box 7 Folder 53
Keystonian, 1962.
Box 7 Folder 54
Keystonian, 1963, 1964.
Box 4 Folder 34
Member questionnaire, 1962.
Box 4 Folder 35
Membership info of Alpha Alpha State, 1964.
Box 4 Folder 36
Miscellaneous documents, 1962-1963.
Box 4 Folder 37
Miscellaneous documents, 1963-1965.
Box 4 Folder 38
New Member Invitation Cards, 1964.
Box 7 Folder 55
News, 1962.
Box 7 Folder 56
News of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, 1963-1964.
Box 4 Folder 39
Notices and announcements to members, 1960-1964.
Box 4 Folder 40
President's and Founders Banquet, 1962.
Box 7 Folder 57
President's files, 1962-1963.
Box 4 Folder 41
President's files, 1963-1964.
Box 4 Folder 42
Program Manual, 1959-1963.
Box 7 Folder 58
Songs, 1962 August.
Box 7 Folder 59
State Convention Name Badge, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 60
Yearbook, 1963-1964.
Box 6 Folder 14

American Association of University Women, Philadelphia Branch, 1983, 1988.
Box 4 Folder 43
Miscellaneous, 1963, 1976, 1983, 1985, 1990.
Box 4 Folder 44
Necrology, 1970-1972, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 45
Trustees Council of Penn Women, 1987.
Box 4 Folder 46
Univeristy of Pennsylvania "Almanac", 1987.
Box 4 Folder 47
biographical information, 1983.
Box 4 Folder 48
correspondence from Mary Davitt-Bell, 1983-1984.
Box 4 Folder 49
newspaper clippings, 1983.
Box 4 Folder 50
notes of congradulations, 1983-1984.
Box 4 Folder 51
photographs, 1983.
Box 4 Folder 52

Address cards, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 1
Address cards, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 2
Blach, H. W., n.d.
Box 7 Folder 61
Nametags, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 3
Notebook, 1964.
Box 7 Folder 62
Oak Lane Presbyterian Church Sunday School, 1963.
Box 7 Folder 63
Proctor, Edith, n.d.
Box 7 Folder 64
University of Pennsylvania Old Guard memorabilia, c. 1992.
Box 5 Folder 4

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