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Attallah A. Kidess Papers

 Collection — Box: 01-04
Identifier: MS-528

Collection Scope and Contents

The Attallah A. Kidess Papers contain newspaper articles, news releases, correspondence, postcards, notes, magazines, printed materials, photographs, audio tape, records, DVDs, and manuscripts both published and unpublished. Materials within the collection were created by Kidess and/or are materials about him that were collected by others.

Within the materials are many biographical documents that speak of his life both before and after he came to Springfield College. These include resumes and documents written by staff at Springfield College. Of particular importance are notes from an interview and a newspaper article created in December 1962 for the Springfield Sunday Republican newspaper. The newspaper contains many photographs from his life. There are many newspaper articles and College new releases that describe events in Kidess’s career and life and/or International students and events on campus from 1940 mostly through the early ‘70s. Many contain photographs and biographical information on International students and visitors.

The photographs in the collection include portrait photographs of Kidess, photographs of Kidess with International students and visitors, photographs of International events, such as barbeques and dinners, and some photographs of his retirement party in 1978. There is a large panoramic group photograph of all the attendees at the Y’s Men convention held in St. Paul Minnesota in August, 1934. Finally, there are a few photographs from his time in Palestine and Jerusalem. Some of these are of sports teams and exercising at the Jerusalem YMCA.

There are a number of unpublished manuscripts written by Kidess within the collection. These include two copies of his doctoral dissertation on James Huff McCurdy titled, “A study of the work and contributions of Dr. James Huff McCurdy to physical education.” They appear to be drafts with notations and changes. The final copy is within the library's Rare Book collection. There are also texts of speeches delivered by Kidess, including the text from the speech he delivered at the dedication of the International Center in 1972. Of particular importance is a document that Kidess wrote on the Palestinian /Jewish situation called “I Remember.” Finally, there are a number of manuscripts that Kidess may have written for graduate level classes in pursuit of his PhD in 1953.

Other materials of note include: a folder on Springfield College faculty issues involving the forced retirement of Dr. Egon Bergel and Dr. Frank Warren; tennis clinic materials from the early 1950s including photographs of tennis stars Alice Mable, Don Bridge, Vincent Richards; audio recording of an interview of Kidess on “News, Views, and Opinions on Springfield College” by the Springfield College Radio station, WSRB, in the early 1970’s; an audio recording of Kidess speaking on Peter V. Karpovich, most likely at his memorial in 1975; and an audio recording of Kidess receiving his Doctorate in 1958. There is also a scrapbook with photographs and descriptions of the May 13, 1950 Springfield College varsity tennis match against New York University at Yankee Stadium. The scrapbook was created by Walt Ryan, the manager, and is titled “Varsity Tennis – SC and NYU at Yankee Stadium May 13, 1950: Every Picture Tells a Story.” In addition there is a report on Alumni Hall from 1948-1954, written by him.

Dates

  • Creation: ca. 1930-1999

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Conditions Governing Use

Rights status not fully evaluated.

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Biographical Note

Dr. Atallah Alexander “Ted” Kidess was born in Jerusalem, Palestine on December 25, 1910. He attended primary and secondary school at the St. George’s School in Jerusalem. Before coming to the United States, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from American University in Cairo and a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens College in Oxford. He continued his education at Springfield College, earning a Master’s Degree (1935) and a Doctor of Physical Education Degree (1958). Kidess went back to Jerusalem to serve at the director of physical education at the Jerusalem YMCA from 1937 to 1947. He returned to Springfield College in 1947 as a member of the Springfield College faculty, saying “when I was invited back, I felt it an opportunity for me to return and, in a sense pay back the college.”

Kidess started off teaching and serving as a faculty resident in Alumni Hall. He was the director of housing from 1948 to 1954. Kidess was named Foreign Student Advisor in 1955. In 1959 he was appointed Executive Assistant to the President and served in that position until 1962, when he was appointed Administrative Vice President by the Board of Trustees. Kidess shortly held the position, resigning in 1963 to devote his time to teaching and international work.

On July 1, 1965, Kidess was appointed Director of the newly established International Center at Springfield College. The Center was established to facilitate and administer the increasing global programs of the college. Some of Kidess’ main responsibilities were orientation of foreign students and American students going abroad, development of lecture programs and regional studies, conduction of programs to encourage Springfield students to join Operation Crossroads Africa and Peace Crops, and development of resources and contacts for students and faculty on fellowships, scholarships, and other programs in international affairs.

While Kidess will always be remembered by the students and faculty of Springfield College, he has countless accomplishments outside of the college. In his younger days, Kidess was an impressive athlete earning four letters at St. George’s School, being named the junior Davis Cup Champion of the Middle East in 1930, leading the Palestine Soccer team as captain in the 1936 Olympics, and lastly being the squash champion in the Middle East in 1938 and 1939. Quite the athlete, Kidess was the coach of the men’s varsity tennis team at Springfield College (1948-1958, 68 wins, 34 losses, and 1 tie). Kidess retired in 1978 after spending over 30 years as a faculty member of the college. He passed away on May 26, 1999.

- Written and researched by Mikaela Corbett (Class of 2017), February 2017

Extent

2.25 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Abstract

Dr. Attallah Alexander “Ted” Kidess was born in Jerusalem, Palestine on December 25, 1910. Before coming to the United States, he earned degrees from American University in Cairo and Queens College in Oxford. At Springfield College, he earned a Master’s Degree (1935) and a Doctor of Physical Education Degree (1958). Kidess went back to Jerusalem to serve at the director of physical education at the Jerusalem YMCA from 1937 to 1947. He returned to Springfield College as a faculty member in 1947 and was named Foreign Student Advisor in 1955. In 1965, Kidess was appointed Director of the newly established International Center at Springfield College, a position he held until he retired in 1978. Quite the athlete, Kidess was the Palestine Soccer team captain in the 1936 Olympics and the coach of the men’s varsity tennis team at Springfield College. He passed away on May 26, 1999.

The Attallah A. Kidess Papers contains newspaper articles, news releases, correspondence, postcards, notes, magazines, printed materials, photographs, audio tape, records, DVDs, and manuscripts both published and unpublished. Within the materials are many biographical documents that speak of his life, newspaper articles and new releases that describe events in Kidess’s career and life and/or International students and events on campus from 1940 mostly through the early ‘70s, photographs of Kidess, International students and visitors, and a number of unpublished manuscripts written by Kidess, including two copies of his doctoral dissertation, “A study of the work and contributions of Dr. James Huff McCurdy to physical education.”

Arrangement

Since the collection contains materials from different sources, there is no original order. Materials, where appropriate, have been placed in chronological order, including dated newspapers, and some of the correspondence.

History of the Collection

The majority of materials were donated September 13, 2005 by Helen B. Kidess and Tamari Kidess-Lucey. Other materials were originally contained in the Springfield College Archival collections, most in the Faculty file for Attallah Kidess. The materials included photographs, biographical materials, and newspaper articles. It was decided that it was best for researchers to have these materials combined with the donated materials. Faculty files now only contain information on his employment at Springfield College.

Digitized Materials

Browse digitized materials from this collection. This collection is partially digitized.

Related Materials: Records Within Springfield College Collections

Archival Collections

  1. Digital Collections – For all Digital Images of Photographs and Documents on Attallah A. Kidess
  2. RG105 - International Center Records
  3. RG175 - Cosmopolitan Club Records
  4. Faculty Files - Kidess, Attallah A.
  5. Springfield College Yearbooks
  6. Springfield College Newspapers
  7. Springfield College Alumni Magazines
  8. Office of the President Records
  9. Springfield College Tennis Team Records
  10. Springfield College Athletic Department Records

Books and Pamphlets

Related Materials: Records Outside of Springfield College Collections

Archival Collections

Title
Attallah A. Kidess Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Jeffrey Monseau
Date
2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2022-07: Transferring information from the original Word document to ArchivesSpace.

Repository Details

Part of the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Springfield College
Judd Gymnasia
263 Alden Street
Springfield Massachusetts 01109 U.S.A. US
413-748-3309