Theodore Fred Kuper (1886-1981) was a lawyer, the national director of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation (1923-35), executive director of the George Washington Foundation for Citizenship and Education(1928-30), executive manager (1932-36) and law secretary (1936-43) of the New York City Board of Education, and later served as legal, legislative, and public relations counsel for City Colleges of New York and for the Fashion Institute of Technology. The collection consists of correspondence, newspaper and journal articles, personal manuscripts, books, pamphlets, brochures, prints, lithographs, and approximately 150 photographs.

Kuper was born on May 1, 1886 in Moscow; moved with his parents to New York City in 1891; LL.B, New York University Law School, 1904; member of the E.R. Terry law firm, 1908-14; worked in oil business in the Midwest, 1917-22; returned to New York City, serving as national director of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1923-35; wrote Thomas Jefferson the Giant, later printed as Thomas Jefferson Still Lives, 1926; executive director, George Washington Foundation for Citizenship and Education, 1928-30; executive manager of New York City Board of Education, 1932-36; served as law secretary of New York City Board of Education, 1936-43; served as legal, legislative, and public relations counsel for City Colleges of New York, and for the Fashion Institute of Technology, 1948-59; moved to California, 1959; died on May 30, 1981 in Whittier, California.Theodore Fred Kuper (b. 1886) was a Russian-Jewish immigrant to the United States who became a leader in the preservationist movement that saved Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello and an important player in the administration of New York City's public schools and city college system. In 1891, Kuper and his family left Moscow for New York City, where they settled, and where Kuper would live, except for a five year period, until his move to California in 1959. Successful completion of the Board of Regents Examination qualified Kuper for higher education; consequently, he entered, in 1902, the New York University School of Law, from which he received his LLB in 1904. Kuper then served as a law clerk in the firm of E.R. Terry, a member of a distinguished New York family. After passing the New York State Bar Exam, Kuper became a member of the firm in 1908.

37 boxes (18.5 linear ft.) 2 oversize boxes

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