Pan American Society (USA), San Francisco Chapter Papers, 1928-1965

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Summary

Title:
Pan American Society (USA), San Francisco Chapter Papers,
Dates:
1928-1965
Creators:
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Pan American Society (USA), San Francisco Chapter Papers, Mss41, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of the Pan American Society (1928-1965) consist of correspondence, financial and membership records, publicity, photographs, educational materials and memorabilia.

Biographical / historical:

The Pan American Society was founded (1912) to foster Pan American friendship and understanding. It is the oldest private Latin American organization in the United States. The idea for the Society originated with John Barrett, who, at the time was Director of the U.S. government-sponsored Pan American Union. Barrett, with the assistance of Senator Elihu Root, organized meetings of a first chapter in New York City. By 1940 membership had grown to about 800.

During the years of its existence, the various chapters of the national Society have arranged hundreds of dinners in honor of heads of government, diplomats, missions on culture, economics, and science, and Latin American students at American universities. In addition to these social activities, the officers of the Society have participated in radio broadcasts and delivered lectures in schools, clubs, and other institutions espousing amicable commercial and cultural relations between the United States and its Latin American neighbors.

From the time of its establishment in San Francisco (1930), the Bay Area chapter has also devoted itself to fostering these goals. Among the activities of the Society, the most important has been its annual observance of Pan America Day (April 14), in the course of which all area Latin American university students are fed and entertained at lavish banquets. Distinguished Latin Americans who were also guests at Society banquets have included the President of Nicaragua, the Chief of Staff of the Brazilian Army and the Vice Presidents of Peru and El Salvador. The chapter entertained delegates to the Reciprocal Trade Conference (1930), members of the Brazilian Touring Club (1933), members of the Peruvian and Chilean Missions to the Orient (1938), delegates to the Inter-American Travel Congress (1939), personnel of Argentinian and Chilean training cruisers (1940, 1941, and 1944), and the heads of the Latin American delegations to United Nations Conference (1945).

Miscellaneous educational activities of the Society have included the formation of Pan American Clubs in area high schools, the presentation of books to the San Francisco Public Library, the awarding of scholarships to Casa Panamericana at Mills College, and efforts to foster friendly relations with Mexican farm and field workers during the Second World War.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Physical description:
13 linear ft.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by Don Walker
Date Prepared:
© 1998
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from paper by means of scanning and OCR; OCR file edited for typographical errors before encoding. Date of source: 1994.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Pan American Society (USA), San Francisco Chapter Papers, Mss41, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

Location of this collection:
University of the Pacific, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University Library
Stockton, CA 95211, US
Contact:
(209) 946-2404
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