Orginal housing, undated

File — Box: 2, Folder: 11

Scope and Contents

From the Series: The Otto Scheller records consist mostly of manuscript copies of petitions and correspondence sent by Scheller to the Czechoslovak Republic. The petitions ask for the Republic’s assistance in obtaining property that Scheller believed he inherited from his grandfather and that was subsequently stolen by the State of Pennsylvania. This collection is divided into three series.

Series I: Ward Notes contains notes typed by a Dr. Butterworth at the Philadelphia State Hospital. The notes provide a fairly comprehensive summary of Scheller’s court cases, a brief biography, and his mental state.

Series II: Petition for Justice includes a six-part petition, presumably what had intended to send, or copies of what he did send, to the Consulate of the Czechoslovak Republic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each part of the petition includes its original packaging, accompanying letter, and various smaller pieces of the petition. Researchers should note that all the packages in this series were unsealed. Inside each package were several handmade envelopes, glued around the edges, stitched, and then sealed with wax.

Series III: Copies of Petition for Justice holds partial copies (drafts?) of the petition contained in Series II. These copies are placed inside empty notebook covers, and two include letters that were sealed with stitching and wax.