Pith helmet hat from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity pressed canvas pith helmet, resembling a Hawley-style American sun helmet. The helmet is khaki colored, has a brown, faux, leather chinstrap and three grommets, or ventilation holes, on the left and right sides. The hat has a molded, pointed top with six molded spokes running from the pointed crown. It has molded faux puggaree folds running along the hatband which overlays into a V-shape at the front and back of the helmet. A large, white diamond has been hand painted on the front panel of the band. The Greek letters, kappa alpha psi [???], have been hand painted in red over the diamond, and a set of red, wavy decorations on either side of the letters. The number [3] has been hand painted in red between the three grommets on the proper left side and [F79] has been painted in red between the three grommets on the proper right side of the helmet. The interior of the helmet is a paper fiber that has been coated in green paint. The chinstrap is attached to the interior of the helmet by the bottom grommet visible on the exterior of the hat. There is a faux leather band running along the interior of the helmet, held in place by the other two grommets visible on the exterior of the hat and two grommets that are visible only on the interior. The band inside the hat has eight holes punched through it, four in a square on each end of the band which does not connect at the back. A brown shoelace with dark brown aglets, used to make the interior hat band adjustable, has been tied to one of the proper left, rear bottom hole.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1979
• Created by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Terance Turner
• Subject of: Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1911
• Type: topees
• Medium: canvas, vinyl, metal, paper and paint
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Flat): 6 1/4 × 11 5/8 × 13 7/8 in. (15.9 × 29.5 × 35.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (On form with string): 7 × 11 5/8 × 13 in. (17.8 × 29.5 × 33 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (On form without string): 13 × 11 5/8 × 13 7/8 in. (33 × 29.5 × 35.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Fraternities
• Topic: Men
• Object number: 2014.127.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Taalib Abdullah Al 'Ali (Terance Turner)
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.