Kappa Kappa Psi Archives & History Project Update

Kappa Kappa Psi Archives and History Kappa Kappa Psi Archives and History Kappa Kappa Psi Archives and History Kappa Kappa Psi Archives and History Kappa Kappa Psi Archives and History Project Update Project Update Project Update Project Update Project Update

by Ken Corbett and Scott Stowell Past National Presidents and Kappa Kappa Psi Board Members

Since our first report last year on the Archives and History Project, we have made tremendous progress in preserving our history. When we embarked on this ambitious project, some of the goals we set included: development of a plan to safeguard all archival material, research into better preservation techniques for all documents, artifacts, and photographs; complete documentation of the history of Kappa Kappa Psi from the beginning to the present; and regular reports to chapters concerning the preservation of chapter archives.

The following work has been completed in the Kappa Kappa Psi Archives room at the National Headquarters: purchase and installation of new shelving and carpet, a review of the condition of each petition document, storing chapter petition documents in protective boxes, storing original NIB music compositions in protective boxes, installation of a fireproof file cabinet, the inventory and secure storage of one copy of each issue of The BATON and The PODIUM, and framing photos of Bohumil Makovsky and A. Frank Martin.

Before placing the petition documents in new protective boxes, each document was fully reviewed to determine its size, condition, and style. We also checked for any significant national historic content and determined if any repair was needed. We plan to announce a process whereby chapters can submit additional materials to be placed in the box that contains their petition. Materials to be considered include an updated history of the chapter after a defined time period and programs from significant events like major chapter and band anniversaries. You will hear more about this in the coming months.

In this effort we also received assistance from the Oklahoma State University Archives Department. They provided us with several historical photos and restored some large photographs of Boh’s band in the 1920’s. In addition we have an on-going project with OSU to convert the early NIB tapes and albums to CD.

Work continues on the history of the fraternity. During our last visit in December, files were created to house the records of J. Lee Burke, A. Frank Martin and other loose historical materials in the archives. This reorganization will assist during the research of our fraternity history.

Now that our first major goal of safeguarding the petition documents has been completed, we plan to shift our work to the following: research on the fraternity history, safekeeping of other historic publications and shingles, and communication with chapters on the proper storage of chapter archives.

A full report on the work of the archives and history project will be given at the 2001 National Convention. We plan to present a slide presentation to the membership documenting our work along with a small display of several historical items.

We received a great deal of assistance in this project from current CFR Derrick Mills, past CFR Jeremy Thomas, NAA Board Chair Dale Croston, former Southwest District Governor Steve Nelson and Northeast District President Beth Smith. We continue to be very excited about the progress we’ve made thus far. Again, we would like to thank the National Council for their continuing support of this project. If you have any input into this project, please contact us.