Reviewed by Walker E. Fesmire The University of Michigan-Flint
This book is a major contribution to the early history of the de-velopment of accountancy and accounting education in America. This work provides a panoramic view of significant accounting education and information on important events and personalities during the half-century following the establishment, in 1896, of the CPA Certificate by New York State. It is a detailed, documentation of the development of Beta Alpha Psi from its founding at the University of Illinois, in 1919, through its temporary deactivations brought on by World War II.
Mr. Sheldahl’s work presents an unusual view of accounting edu-cation during the period before collegiate accounting instruction became the established mode of entry into the profession of ac-counting.
He obtained an excellent balance between scholarship and readability while developing a comprehensive, balanced reporting of Beta Alpha Psi’s early development. Much of the material presented is “human-centered” as numerous references are made to important accounting educators and their thoughts, while many of the important developments are presented from the perspective of these individuals. The only chapter where this reviewer’s interest waned was Chapter 3 where the work departed from the human-centered approach and devoted itself to a legalistic consideration of the development of the fraternity’s constitution.
The coverage in this work is presented through a combination of topical and chronological approaches. The period covered is divided into two eras, each featuring basic themes conducive to chronological presentation. The first era, the “Founding Era,” extended from 1919 until 1927. This era provided the fundamental constitutional reforms and centralized governance for the fraternity. This era also saw the nationwide expansion of chapters and the generation of several significant programs which were implemented during the second era.
The “Vigorous Survival Era” extended from 1928 to 1945. Despite the effects of the Great Depression, this era was a period of impressive achievements for Beta Alpha Psi. Among the significant achievements were the development of the chapter visitation program and the three literary programs. Two of the literary programs were awards for individual contributions to accounting literature while the third was the development of a national periodical for fraternity members.
World War II resulted in Beta Alpha Psi becoming inactive as the organization was male-oriented. However, by World War II, the fraternity was firmly established, with chapters located on twenty-one campuses throughout the nation. Thus, the foundation had been established for the reactivation of the fraternity after the war.
The primary focus of this work is upon the national organization and how, as a separate guiding entity, it assisted the local chapters in their operations. Several chapters deal primarily with local units and/or their interaction with the national unit. Also, this work presents a broad range of information on related accounting events. For example, Chapter 1 describes the “environmental background” which surrounded the formation of Beta Alpha Psi; Chapter 6 concentrates on the career of Eric L. Kohler, the second president of the fraternity and describes the pivotal events in establishment of financial accounting standards and Kohler’s contributions to governmental accounting for the federal government. Chapters 9 and 10 review accounting literature representative of the 1920s and 1930s. Profiles of several noted accounting educators are covered in Chapters 2 and 14.
This book is a must for all good accounting libraries as it details the remarkable contributions made by the fraternity to accounting education between the World Wars and it elaborates on the outstanding educational legacy of the Beta Alpha Psi leadership from 1919 to 1945.
