Call Number: C 7B5 T223 Shelf P
Provenance: Files deposited circa 1981 in the Cooper Archives.
Historical Note:
In 1926, a faculty-appointed “Honor Group” from the Senior class of Cooper Union’s Institute of Technology was tasked with the writing of a Constitution and By-Laws for a proposed Honor Society. The Mu Alpha Omicron Honor Society was recognized by the faculty in March 1926, and inducted its first group of members on May 15, 1926.
Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, was founded at Lehigh University in 1885. The Cooper Union School of Engineering applied to The Tau Beta Pi Association in 1943 to start a chapter at Cooper Union, but wartime enrollment was deemed to be too small to support a chapter. In 1946, Cooper Union’s revised petition to create a chapter was accepted, and Cooper Union’s existing honor society, Mu Alpha Omicron, became the Iota Chapter of Tau Beta Pi. The Tau Beta Pi National Association officially recognized the New York Iota chapter on January 11, 1947.
The records also include general information regarding The Cooper Union Engineering School, and biographies of Engineering and Humanities faculty, as well as correspondence with Professor Herbert F. Roemmele, Tau Beta Pi’s Faculty Representative, and papers relating to George F. Bateman, Dean of the School of Engineering and Cooper Union Alumnus (Class of 1907).
Arrangement:
The records are divided into eight series: 1) Mu Alpha Omicron Honor Society, 2) Tau Beta Pi, Iota Chapter: Chapter Business, 3) Tau Beta Pi, Iota Chapter: Financial Records, 4) Tau Beta Pi, Iota Chapter: Correspondence, 5) Tau Beta Pi, Iota Chapter: Members, 6) Tau Beta Pi, National Headquarters: Publications, 7) Tau Beta Pi: National Convention, 8) Tau Beta Pi, Iota Chapter: Awards and Memorabilia.
Extent of Collection: 4 boxes; 5.2 linear feet.
Finding Aid prepared by Mitsuko Brooks, September, 2010.
