| In search of a permanent KDP home |
 In 1950 Kappa Delta Pi authorized a budget of $75,000 to begin work toward establishing a permanent home for the Society other than its then current home in Tiffin, Ohio. It was not until 1954, however, that a special committee began to explore in detail the necessity of finding a new, permanent home. Gerald H. Read chaired the five-member committee that originally considered proposals to locate the Society’s offices not just at a university, but specifically in Evanston, Illinois.Finding a home for KDP had been a consistent issue since its founding in 1911. Until 1926, the Society’s records were housed in a building inside the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “The records of the Society at that time were very small,” the committee reported. “One person could easily carry them in his arms” (Educational Forum 1956, 504cc).  In 1926, the central office transferred to Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio—first in the Department of Education, and later “in a large room in the college library” (504dd). In 1942, the general office then moved to a separate structure nearby and it continued functioning under the control of secretary-treasurer E.I.F. Williams. The Society’s office remained there until growth forced the issue of looking for a new home. Finally, in May 1961, The Educational Forum, unveiled an artist’s rendering of the new KDP facility as designed by Walter Scholer and Associates. The Forum noted that “the building, as planned, is commodious and will meet the needs of the Society for many years to come, though as it is so arranged then an addition may be constructed, if necessary” (Educational Forum 25(4): 537k–39k).  The building was to be constructed near the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where KDP would remain for another nearly half-century until its relocation to the current site in Indianapolis.”The most handsome room in the building will be a Founders Room which will be paneled, furnished with a large directors’ table and suitable chairs,” the Forum reported. “In it will be provided wall space for oil paintings of the founders, a frieze for photographs of past presidents, cases for The Educational Forum and other publications of Kappa Delta Pi, and the display of memorabilia of the Society” (538k). No doubt considered modern for its era, the Society’s architect touted the building’s ample parking— but also air conditioning— a must in Indiana’s hot, humid summers. |
