The Pike Mansion, once home to one of Omaha's most prominent families, has a very unique and interesting history. It all started in 1893 when the large mansion on the southwest corner of 39th and Dodge was built for the family of Steven A. McWhorter, a 19th century Irish businessman. He was the owner and senior partner of McWhorter, Hollinger & Sunderland Brokers, Grain, & Stock. The Mansion, built cement grey in color, was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was home to the McWhorter family until 1911. It was then sold to Oak Chatham (O.C.) Redick.

The Redick's were most famously known for their patriarch Judge John Redick who was Omaha's first ever attorney and one of the city's first millionaires. Judge Redick donated one of his homes, a Victorian Mansion at 16th and Pratt, to UNO then Omaha University) at the turn of the century. O.C. Redick, John's grandson, and his family called the mansion home for nearly 20 years until the house was foreclosed on in 1929. The division of the Redick fortune after the death of Judge Redick had not provided O.C. enough money to maintain the palatial single-family residence.

After the first foreclosure, Pike Mansion was converted into a rooming house until it was foreclosed on again in 1939. It then became a tea room and a hotel. In about 1945 it was purchased by Dr. Wayne Hull, who came to Omaha to open an allergy practice. He lived on the second floor and on the third floor had an elaborate photographic laboratory and darkroom. He was an internationally know expert on medical photography in addition to being the only full time Allergist between Des Moines and Denver. Dr. John Dewey graduated from Creighton in 1949 and joined Dr. Hull in 1952. After Dr. Hull retired, Dr. Dewey turned the second floor into examination and testing rooms. The third floor ballroom/servants quarters became a laboratory where he made allergy extracts for testing and treatment of his patients. Dr. Dewey retired in 1993 after 41 years of helping allergy sufferers!

The mansion was then sold to Emerald Health Care and was used to house elderly men and women suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In 2000 Emerald Health Care relocated to Lincoln, NE and the mansion was put up for sale. In May of 2002 the Pi Kappa Alpha-Delta Chi Housing Corporation was introduced to the property. Over the summer numerous inspections were completed to make sure the mansion would be suitable for the needs of the average college student. In November Pi Kappa Alpha moved in, starting a new chapter in the history of such a remarkable estate, the Pike Mansion.

Contributors:
Dr. John Dewey - Alergist and Former Property Owner
James D. Kresnik - Housing Corporation President

 

History of Pi Kappa Alpha

Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity is a Greek letter, secret, college, social fraternity. It is composed of men who share similar ideals of friendship, truth, honor, and loyalty. The Fraternity's ideals are expressed in the written words and symbols of a secret ritual. These ideals and members' ability to maintain the visions of the Fraternity's founders are the great moral legacy of Pi Kappa Alpha.

Pi Kappa Alpha was founded at the University of Virginia on March 1, 1868. At the time, the University of Virginia was the fifth largest school in the United States. Only Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Michigan were bigger. The University of Virginia is considered the first truly American state university because it was the first to be established totally free from religious control.

It all started in Room 47 West Range when Frederick Southgate Taylor turned to Littleton Waller Tazewell, his cousin and roommate, for help in starting a new fraternity. Also present was James Benjamin Sclater, Jr., a schoolmate of Tazewell, and Sclater's roommate Robertson Howard. Those four men voted to add a fifth to their group and chose Julian Edward Wood. Although history is unclear, William Alexander, probably a friend of Sclater, Jr., was proposed for membership and was admitted as a founder. The first initiate was Augustus Washington Knox.

The essence of the Founders' vision for Pi Kappa Alpha can be found in its Preamble. A committee was first suggested by Brother William Alexander "to draw up a statement of the origin and the organization of the Fraternity." The committee was composed of brothers Robertson Howard and Littleton Waller Tazewell. The resulting statement is now referred to as the Preamble.

"For the establishment of friendship on a firmer and more lasting basis;
for the promotion of brotherly love and kind feeling;
for the mutual benefit and advancement of the interests of those with whom we sympathize and deem worthy of our regard;
We have resolved to form a Fraternity, believing that, thus we can most successfully accomplish our object."

* Frederick Southgate Taylor
* James Benjamin Sclater
* Julian Edward Wood
* Littleton Waller Tazewell
* Robertson Howard
* William Alexander

The years after the Civil War found a proliferation of American college fraternities being organized, particularly in the South. Pi Kappa Alpha's founding in 1868 was soon followed by the founding of Kappa Sigma and Sigma Nu. These fraternities, along with Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa Alpha Order, and Sigma Phi Epsilon, are known as the "Virginia Circle".

Before the end of Spring 1868, the brothers had decided that they wanted more than a Virginia society. They wanted to become a national fraternity. The following 21 years would prove to be some of the most troublesome times, nearly shattering the dreams of these young men. With universities making it nearly impossible for fraternities to exist by placing bans on the presence of secret societies, the Fraternity was still able to expand. The second chapter, Beta (Davidson College), had even voted to disband saying in a letter to the president of the college, "we have disbanded our chapter and we do not intend to carry it on unless we can do it openly and above board, as we regard its ties too sacred for other procedure."

Nearly two years later, the third chapter, Gamma (William & Mary), was established. During the years that followed until 1889, there would be a total of ten charters granted; however, only five remained active. This was the year of a most important convention. The Hampden-Sydney Convention brought the likes of Theron Hall Rice, a transfer to Virginia from Southwestern, who represented Alpha; Howard Bell Arbuckle, a recent graduate and then a teaching fellow at Hampden-Sydney, who represented Iota; and John Shaw Foster, a delegate from Theta Chapter at Southwestern (now Rhodes College). Lambda at the Citadel was to have been represented by Robert Adger Smythe, but a telegram from Charleston explained, "no holiday given us. Impossible to come. Act for us in everything." This convention is of major importance, as it is considered the rebirth of the Fraternity. Together, Theron Rice, Howard Arbuckle, Robert Smythe, and John Foster came to be known as the Junior Founders.

Another pivotal event in the Fraternity's history is the 1933 Troutdale Convention. At this meeting, the national organization was restructured. Former national officer titles were replaced with simple ones, the number of national officers was increased, and the Fraternity established the executive secretary (later executive director, now executive vice president) as a paid professional administrator. The year marked the end of direct regular service by two junior founders, Arbuckle and Smythe. The period of the Junior Founders had passed and Pi Kappa Alpha looked forward to a new generation of leaders.