Frederick P. Gruenberg papers
Collection 2029
1902-1980, undated(4.3 Linear feet ; 11 boxes)
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Creator
- Gruenberg, Frederick P., 1884-1976
- Title
- Frederick P. Gruenberg papers
- ID
- 2029
- Date
- 1902-1980, undated
- Extent
- 4.3 Linear feet ; 11 boxes
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Benjamin David Walter-Range.
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- Frederick P. Gruenberg was born in 1885 in Minnesota; his family later moved to New York City. His father, John Gruenberg, was a lawyer and his older brother, Benjamin C. Gruenberg, was a scientist. On December 29, 1909, in Minneapolis, Frederick was married to Bertha Sanford. Frederick arrived in Philadelphia in 1910 and, apart from a few years in Harrisburg, remained there until his death in 1976. He had two children: Edith (Mrs. Stephen M. Harris) and John II, and five grandchildren. These papers include Gruenberg's professional correspondence as an officer in a variety of civic, governmental, and banking organizations: Brown Brothers & Co., Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research, Bankers Bond and Mortgage Company, public service commissioner of Philadelphia, City Charter Committee of Philadelphia, Office of Price Administration, and Samuel Fels Fund. Also included is Gruenberg's personal correspondence which consists of letters exchanged mostly with his wife, Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, his children, and other family members.
Preferred citation
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Frederick P. Gruenberg papers (Collection 2029), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Background note
Frederick P. Gruenberg was born in 1885 in Minnesota; his family later moved to New York City. His father, John Gruenberg, was a lawyer and his older brother, Benjamin C. Gruenberg, was a scientist. On December 29, 1909, in Minneapolis, Frederick was married to Bertha Sanford. Frederick arrived in Philadelphia in 1910, and apart from a few years in Harrisburg, remained there until his death in 1976. He had two children: Edith (Mrs. Stephen M. Harris) and John, and five grandchildren.
His undergraduate studies were at New York University’s School of Commerce and were not as balanced as his later education. He received education in history, economics, sociology, and modern languages in addition to the core curriculum of accounting, corporation finance, commercial law and the like.
Frederick spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania as a graduate student in social sciences. He majored in Political Science with minors in economics and sociology. He did this while supporting his family and had to make sure that the roster of seminars and classes had to fit around his full-time job of being the director of the Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research. Frederick benefited greatly from the education and was able to get good grades, thanks in part to the trustees of the bureau who accommodated his education.
During his ten years at the Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research, Frederick engaged in two part-time teaching experiences, again with the cooperation with the Bureau’s trustees. The first was a lectureship in political science at Hobart College, Geneva, NY. The other teaching was as a volunteer member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania School of Social Work, where, for seven successive years, he gave a course in social agency administration for both students and board members of social agencies.
Frederick held a number of official services during his life. The first of these was during the latter part of World War I. He was an aide to Morris Llewellyn Cooke, an administrator of the United States Shipping Board and the Emergency Fleet Corporation. Frederick’s duties were varied and mainly consisted of being the liaison-officer with the Army and the Navy. Frederick’s second official service was a public administrative and quasi-judicial experience as a public service commissioner of Pennsylvania, for six years, by appointment of Governor Gifford Pinchot. The third public service was during World War II was when he was area rent director for eight counties in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In 1944, Frederick became executive director of the Samuel S. Fels Fund - a foundation mainly concerned with scientific research and higher education, as well as training career officials in local and state government.
Scope and content note
These papers include Gruenberg's professional correspondence as an officer in a variety of civic, governmental, and banking organizations: Brown Brothers & Co., bankers, 1910-1913, head of foreign exchange department; Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research, 1913-1923, and director from 1915; Bankers Bond and Mortgage Company, 1924-1931, treasurer; public service commissioner, 1931-1937, appointed by Governor Gifford Pinchot, who is among Gruenberg's correspondents; City Charter Committee of Philadelphia, 1938-1940, executive secretary; Office of Price Administration, 1942-1944, Philadelphia area rent director; Samuel Fels Fund, 1944-1958, director. Gruenberg's personal correspondence consists of letters exchanged mostly with his wife, Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, his children, and other family members. Also included in the papers are: addresses and articles; diaries, 1909, 1956-1970, with daily memoranda of activities; clippings; news releases; birthday and anniversary greetings; and photographs.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2019.
1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200
Access restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of Frederick P. Gruenberg, 1969 and 1974.
Controlled Access Headings
Subject(s)
- Banks and Banking.
- Bureau of Municipal Research (Philadelphia, PA).
- Pennsylvania--Politics and government--20th century.
- Public service commissions.
- World War II, 1939-1945--Personal Correspondence--Home front.
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
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Official Correspondence: Brown Bros. & Company 1902-1904, 1910-1913 |
1 | 1 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Bureau of Municipal Research 1915-1923 |
1 | 2 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Resignation from Bureau of Municipal Research 1923 |
1 | 3 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Treasurer Bankers Bond & Mortgage Company 1924-1931 |
1 | 4 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Congratulations on Appointment to Public Service Commission 1931 |
1 | 5 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Congratulations on Appointment to Public Service Commission 1931 (cont.) |
1 | 6 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Public Service Commission (Appointment by Pinochot) 1931 |
1 | 7 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Public Service Commission 1932 |
1 | 8 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Public Service Commission 1933 |
1 | 9 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Public Service Commission 1934-1937 |
2 | 1 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Executive secretary city charter committee of Philadelphia 1938-1939 |
2 | 2 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Executive secretary City Charter Committee of Philadelphia 1939-1940 |
2 | 3 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Area Rent Director Philadelphia Defense Rental Area Office of Price Administration 1941-1944 |
2 | 4 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Congratulations on appointment Area Rent Director 1942 |
2 | 5 | ||
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Official Correspondence: resignation as rent director/appointment to Fels Fund 1944 |
2 | 6 | ||
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Official Correspondence: Secretary & Treasurer Fels Foundation 1944-1958 |
2 | 7 | ||
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Official Correspondence: retirement from Fels Fund 1958-1959 |
2 | 8 | ||
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Official Correspondence |
2 | 9 | ||
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Personal Correspondence 1906-1909 |
3 | 1 | ||
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Personal Correspondence 1910-1916 |
3 | 2 | ||
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Personal Correspondence 1917-1924 |
3 | 3 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Benjamin C. Gruenberg 1930-1931 |
3 | 4 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Trip to Europe 1925 |
3 | 5 | ||
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Personal Correspondence 1931-1939 |
3 | 6 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Charlotte M. Gruenberg's death 1939 |
3 | 7 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: John Gruenberg 1942 |
4 | 1 | ||
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Personal Correspondence 1943-1965 |
4 | 2 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: trip to Europe 1950 |
4 | 3 | ||
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Peronsal Correspondence: trip to Europe 1954 |
4 | 4 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Trip to Europe 1956 |
4 | 5 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: regarding trip to Europe 1959 |
4 | 6 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Trip to Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Britain, France) 1959 |
4 | 7 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Fels Award 1966 |
4 | 8 | ||
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Personal Correspondence: Death of Benjamin C. Gruenberg 1965 |
4 | 9 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Index 1913-1950 1913-1950 |
5 | 1 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Why do Men leave the Public Service?" (The Public Servant) 1916-1917 |
5 | 2 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "City Management Conference" (Hobart College) 1917 |
5 | 3 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Some High Spots of the Charter Revision Program" (pg 7) (Business Science Bulletin) 1917 |
5 | 4 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Evidence of psycho-morbidity in war" 1917 |
5 | 5 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The Executive vs. The Legislative Budget" (National Municipal Review) 1918 |
5 | 5A | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "High Spots of the Charter Program" (Inter-Church Federation Bulletin) 1919 |
5 | 6 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Philadelphia Stirreth" (Citizen's Business Bureau of Municipal Research) 1919 |
5 | 6A | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Engineers and Public Opinion" (Engineers and Engineering) 1922 |
5 | 7 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "What really is the matter with Philadelphia?" (Philadelphia Forum Magazine) 1923 |
5 | 8 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Some Experiences with student field work" (The Journal of Social Forces) 1923 |
5 | 9 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The Governmental Research Movement" (Governmental Research Conference in the U.S. and Canada) 1923-1924 |
5 | 10 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Reports of the National Conference on the Science of Politics 1924 |
5 | 11 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The People's Corporation" Book Review |
5 | 12 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Interest on Public Deposits" (The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science) 1924 |
5 | 13 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Robert & Tracy" (Philadelphia Forum) 1925 |
5 | 14 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Mayor-elect Harry Mackley 1927-1930 |
5 | 15 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The City Manager" (Real Estate Board of Philadelphia) 1929-1930 |
5 | 16 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Can Democracy Make Good?" (Keystone Civic News) 1930 |
5 | 17 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: National Farm School Commencement |
5 | 18 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: WPEN-"City Government" 1931 |
5 | 19 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Statement on corruption in Pinchot's Administration 1931 |
5 | 20 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Public Service Commission of PA" The Constitutional Club (3 copies) 1935 |
5 | 21 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Charter Review 1935 |
5 | 22 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "As a Public Servant sees it" (Engineers Society of PA) 1936 |
5 | 23 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Some Two-Horned Dilemmas" (Public Service Commission) 1936 |
5 | 24 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Personal Recollections" (Bureau of Municipal Research) 1937 |
5 | 25 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "City Government" 1937 |
5 | 26 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Commission on Public Administration Interim Report 1937 |
5 | 27 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: National Farm School Commencement 1938 |
5 | 28 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Talk on Proportional Representation 1938 |
5 | 29 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The Frontier is the State" (Conference on Government National Municipal League) 1939 |
5 | 30 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Charter Review (3 items) 1939 |
5 | 31 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Problems of Atlantic City" People's Rally 1939 |
5 | 32 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Commonwealth Club of PA" University Club Philadelphia 1939 |
5 | 33 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Governmental Research-Appraisal and Reply" (Governmental Research Association) 1940 |
5 | 34 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Observations of Crime Prevention" (Crime Prevention Association) 1940 |
5 | 35 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Philadelphia Plus and Minus" (Contemporary Club) 1940 |
5 | 36 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Charter Revision" Monarch Club 1940 |
5 | 37 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Philadelphia's City-County Dilemma" (National Municipal Review) |
5 | 38 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Apostrophe to the Plural" 1941 |
5 | 39 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Local Job of Regulating Rentals" (Real Estate Magazine) 1942 |
6 | 1 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Philadelphia Real Estate Board |
6 | 2 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Development of Social Controls" OPA 1942 |
6 | 3 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Whaddye Mean, Bureaucrats?" (Philadelphia Chiropody Society) 1944 |
6 | 4 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Who are the Bureaucrats?" (Ethical Society) 1944 |
6 | 5 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Race Relations" 1944 |
6 | 6 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The Role of the Chief Executive in Personnel Administration" (Philadelphia Federal Council of Personnel Administration) 1944 |
6 | 7 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "They do it different in the Army" (Colliers Magazine) 1944 |
6 | 8 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Constitutional Revision" (Philadelphia Booster's Association) 1945 |
6 | 9 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Business Regulation" (Junior Chamber of Commerce) 1945 |
6 | 10 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Banking" (U of P -Banking Club) 1946 |
6 | 11 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Oberservations on the Open Mind" (American Council on Education) 1946 |
6 | 12 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "How Obsolete is Modern Man?" (Ethical Society) 1946 |
6 | 13 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The National Conference on Government" (Commonwealth Magazine) 1946 |
6 | 14 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Utilities Regulation" (University of PA) 1947 |
6 | 15 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Is there any ground for optimism?" (Ethical Society) 1947 |
6 | 16 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Opportunity for Research in social sciences" (Temple University) 1950 |
6 | 17 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Activities of Citizens' Charter Committee" (Business Men's Association) 1950 |
6 | 18 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "A Half Century of Municipal Reform" (Book Review-American Political Science Review) 1951 |
6 | 19 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Democracy at bay" (Book Review) 1952 |
6 | 20 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "American Liberty and Natural Law" (Book Review) 1953 |
6 | 21 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "American Liberty and Natural Law" (Book Review) 1954 |
6 | 22 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "A New Look at Some Old Democracies" (Ethical Society) 1954 |
6 | 23 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Wharton School and its Middle Westerners" (U of Pennsylvania Alumni Society) 1955 |
6 | 24 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "A New Look at Some Old Democracies" (The Philadelphia Forum) 1955 |
6 | 25 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Foundations not always garments" (Franklin Inn Club) 1956 |
6 | 27 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Ethics in Business" (Ethical Society) 1957 |
6 | 28 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Rights vs. Duties" 1959-1964 |
6 | 28 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Morris L. Cooke" (includes Eleanor B. Cooke) 1960 |
6 | 29 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: The Dickins Fellowship 1961 |
6 | 30 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "How to Vote" (Philadelphia Ethical Society) 1962 |
6 | 31 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Citizens as Sovereigns" (Book Reviews) 1962 |
6 | 32 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Lewis Stevens" (Resolution of Philadelphia Commission on City Policy) 1963 |
6 | 33 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Judicial Reform in Pennsylvania" (Book Review) 1963 |
6 | 34 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "The Meaning of Founder's Day" (Ethical Society) 1964 |
6 | 35 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Isaac Crawford Sutton" (Philadelphia Committe on City Policy) 1966 |
6 | 36 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Retirement of Henry D. Harrel 1966 |
6 | 37 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: "Professor Franck" (Symposium on Energy Exchange in Molecular Systems) 1966 |
6 | 38 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Fels Award 1966 |
6 | 39 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Misc. Newspaper Articles by 1917-1941 |
6 | 40 | ||
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Addresses and Articles: Misc. Announcements and Engagements |
6 | 41 | ||
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| Box | Item | |||
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Diary 1909 |
7 | 1 | ||
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The Commerce Violet, Volume 3 April, 1910 |
7 | 2 | ||
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The Commerce Violet, Volume 4 (2 copies) May, 1910 |
7 | 3-4 | ||
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The Book of Phi Alpha Sigma, Silver Anniversary, Volume 3 February 24, 1927 |
7 | 5 | ||
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The Book of Phi Alpha Sigma, Golden Anniversary, Volume 4 1952 |
7 | 6 | ||
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Diary 1956 |
7 | 7 | ||
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Diary 1957 |
7 | 8 | ||
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Diary 1958 |
7 | 9 | ||
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Diary 1959 |
7 | 10 | ||
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Diary 1960 |
7 | 11 | ||
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Diary 1961 |
8 | 1 | ||
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Diary 1962 |
8 | 2 | ||
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Diary 1963 |
8 | 3 | ||
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Diary 1964 |
8 | 4 | ||
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Diary 1965 |
8 | 5 | ||
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Diary 1966 |
8 | 6 | ||
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Diary 1967 |
8 | 7 | ||
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Diary 1968 |
8 | 8 | ||
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Diary 1969 |
8 | 9 | ||
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Diary 1970 |
8 | 10 | ||
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| Box | Folder | |||
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Miscellaneous Biography |
9 | 1 | ||
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Miscellaneous legal and official documents |
9 | 2 | ||
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Miscellaneous legal and Official Documents FPG vs. S. Davis Wilson 1934 |
9 | 3 | ||
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Miscellaneous newspaper clippings and Press Release about Frederick P. Gruenberg |
9 | 4 | ||
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Miscellaneous newspaper clippings and Press Releases about Frederick P. Gruenberg |
9 | 5 | ||
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Miscellaneous articles of interest to Frederick P. Gruenberg |
9 | 6 | ||
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Miscellaneous assorted memorabilia |
9 | 7 | ||
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Miscellaneous certificates, business stationary, cards, awards |
9 | 8 | ||
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Bertha S. Gruenberg Governmental Research Association 1974-1976, 1980 |
9 | 9 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - Birthday 1954 |
10 | 1 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - Birthdays 1959-1962 |
10 | 2 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - 80th Birthday 1965 |
10 | 3 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - Birthday 1966 |
10 | 4 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - Birthday 1967-1968 |
10 | 5 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - 50th Anniversary 1959-1960 |
10 | 6 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - 50th Anniversary 1959-1960 |
10 | 7 | ||
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Miscellaneous 50th Wedding Anniversary papers 1960 |
10 | 8 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers - Get Well 1965 |
10 | 9 | ||
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| Box | ||||
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Oversized Photographs and Documents Circa 1920 to circa 1950 |
11 | |||
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