Help Us Celebrate, Document, and Illustrate Our Chapter's Proud History!
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The History of Our History Many thanks to Rich Pirrotta '87, Ron Forrest '88, and Tom Smith '54 for the first version of our chapter's history! Rich Pirotta '87, an undergraduate at the time, was the keynote speaker at the April 1987 Founder's Day Dinner held in the chapter house. His theme was a short history of Pa Theta and what it meant to him plus what it should mean to those who would follow him. (view speech) According to Rich, it was four months later, in August 1987 that he and Ron Forrest '88 started to seriously think about creating a full-blown history of the chapter. They developed a proposal for a History Project dated 8/21/87 (view proposal) that was presented to the Alumni Corporation. In March 1989, two years later, Rich and Ron collected a team of undergraduates (Paul Roelle '91, Steve McGowan '90, Shane Michael '89, Bill Straub '90, Skip Allen '91, and Greg Patschkee '90) for the purpose of gathering our historical data. Rich and Ron visited the Phi Delt headquarters library in Oxford and got as much data from it as they could. In the late 1990s, Tom Smith '54 started looking forward to organizing our Centennial Celebration. He thought about their project and wrote to both of them, asking them about its status. They replied and sent Tom a copy of everything they had collected. Tom organized and edited all of the research into version 1.1 of our history which he printed, bound and distributed at our Centennial Celebration in May 2004. Since the Centennial, Tom has made a few additions and corrections that we are now calling version 1.2. Click here to view this version online (Online Version 1.2) or click here to download the full Microsoft Word Version (MS Word Version 1.2). Again, many thanks to our brothers for all their hard work.
Next Step: Collaborative Living History Project Help us illustrate and continuously enhance and update our Chapter's History We would like to build on this wonderful endeavor and make our History a living document to which all members of the fraternity submit their memories and photos of Phi Delta Theta. Each generation has a unique perspective that should be shared and maintained for future generations. Below are some priceless photos and memories submitted by Jack Shrum '48. "My dad was a Phi Delt at W & J (Pa Gamma) and I still have his pin. He transferred to Penn State in 1920 and lived in the Phi Delt house there. He was there only for the 1920-21 academic year when he had to return home to take over the family dairy business because of his father's serious illness. My father died ten years later, and, since I was only six when he died, I hardly remember him and, of course, I don't remember ever talking about his college life. After my mother died in 1986, I found the house photos in a box of old documents and photos." – Jack Schrum ‘48.
"I lived in the house in Spring Semester '43 (the navy took over in July '43), then again after WW II, graduating in 1948. I remember a lot about the house, but don't remember seeing the album Tom Smith '54 mentioned. We can only hope that such things as the album and photos evident in the 1920-21 house photos still exist and will turn up some day. I remember a parchment lampshade that Ray Fortunato made on which he drew a front view of the house. Beautiful drawing, India ink I believe. It was on a lamp in the Living Room. I wonder if it still exists." – Jack Schrum ‘48.
History Room Help us decorate the walls of our house with photos and mementos from our proud history If you've been to our chapter house recently, you know that the only reference to our 100 years of proud history are the trophies in our trophy case and some old composites on the walls - most in very poor condition. We want to change this. First, we want to have our remaining composites repaired, reframed, and rehung. Then we want to collect composites, photos, newsletters, and other mementos from our alumni, have them framed and hung in our chapter house. We're still debating whether they should be hung in a designated "History Room" or spread throughout the house. The first addition to our History Room is a beautiful plaque honoring the memory of Thomas Smith '46 submitted recently by his son Craig. It includes his shield and paddle, his All American Lacrosse photo, and a copy of his obituary.
Pledge Education Our history should be an important part of our Pledge Education and Training Program We believe that learning our history is a great way to strengthen the bond between all members of our fraternity. Our undergraduate History Chairman, David Dunn '08 and our Pledgemaster, Matt Quirin '07 are developing a history program that will be incorporated into all future pledge classes. "From now on, our chapter's history will be an integral part of our Pledge Education and Training Program. First, every phikiea must learn our history and will be required to pass a series of tests that we are now preparing. Second, every pledge class must select and complete at least one major history project. Our current pledge class is going to locate, scan, and upload a photo of every brother that doesn't currently have a class photo on our website. Third, we want to schedule alumni speakers to address every pledge class and tell them first-hand what the fraternity was like when they were in school" - David Dunn '08, History Chairman.
We need your help Help Us Celebrate and Document Our Chapter's Proud History! Please send us anything you have relating to our chapter's history - Composites, Newsletters, Photos, Mementos, and written accounts of your favorite memories. You can reach our History Team...
You can either scan the photos and e-mail them to us or mail them to the address above. We will scan and return any photos that we receive by mail. Please be sure to include a description of each photo and the names of the members in it. You can also help by making a donation to our Annual Fund. We plan to use a portion of the fund to help finance our History Project. |
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