-Caveat Lector-
an excerpt from:
The Cyclopædia of Fraternities
Albert C. Stevens
©1907 E. B Treat, Inc.
444 pps -- 2nd Edition – Out-of-print
--[1b]--
New chapters of Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Beta
Theta Pi were established with comparative frequency between 1844 and 1861,
the societies ranking during that period about in the order named. During
those years thirteen new college fraternities appeared to dispute supremacy,
so far as possible, with those which were practically their inspiration, Zeta
Psi at the University of New York in 1846; Theta Delta Chi at Union in 1847;
Delta Psi at Columbia in the same year; Phi Delta Theta at Miami, and Phi
Gamma Delta at Washington and Jefferson in 1848; Phi Kappa Sigma at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1850; Phi Kappa Psi at Jefferson in 1852; Sigma
Chi at Miami in 1855; Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Alabama in
1856; Chi Phi (southern) at the University of North Carolina in 1858; another
Chi Phi, this at Hobart College in 1860, and Delta Tau Delta at Bethany
College in the same year. The original Southern college fraternity, "The
Rainbow," founded at the University of Mississippi in 1842, believed to have
been an offshoot from the Mystical Seven of Wesleyan, did not live long. (See
Order of the Heptasophs.) The Princeton and Hobart orders of Chi Phi united
in 1867, and the Southern order of Chi Phi joined them in 1874, when the
amalgamated orders took the name of the Chi Phi fraternity. After the Civil
War there was not much opportunity for new college fraternities to compete
with those already in the field, except at the South, where chapters of
Northern fraternities had disappeared. As shown in an accompanying
genealogical chart of these organizations, five Greek-letter fraternities
were established at Southern educational institutions between 1864 and 1870:
Alpha Tau Omega at Virginia Military Institute, and Kappa Alpha (southern) at
Washington-Lee University, Virginia, in 1865; Kappa Sigma at the University
of Virginia in 1867; Pi Kappa Alpha at the same place in 1868, and Sigma Nu
at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869, all of which have sent out
branches and prospered. Aside from the founding in 1884 of a third local
senior society, Wolf's Head, at Yale, the past twenty-seven years have
developed few, if any, college fraternities of national repute except
professional and women's societies. The quarter of a century in this
department of college life has witnessed a rapid growth on the part of some
fraternities which, just after the war, were not ranked among the first half
dozen, and by others, the development of abnormal conservatism, with a
tendency to let well enough alone, and in some instances to live on prestige.
An accompanying chart makes it plain that after Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi, and
Delta Phi at Union had given rise to Alpha Delta Phi and to Psi Upsilon, the
former to Beta Theta Pi and the latter to Delta Kappa Epsilon, that the line
of propagation, as it were, was divided. One course was the outcome of the
activity of Alpha Delta Phi and Beta Theta Pi, resulting in Phi Gamma Delta,
Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Alpha
Tau Omega, Kappa Alpha (southern) and Sigma Nu; the other, the result of Psi
Upsilon and Delta Kappa Epsilon stimulus, including Sigma Chi, Kappa Sigma,
Pi Kappa Alpha, and Phi Kappa Sigma. Among remaining prominent societies Chi
Psi and Theta Delta Chi had their origin at Union, and Delta Psi and Zeta Psi
in New York city, where Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Phi had each
preceded them. The foregoing suggests a classification of college
fraternities into general, honorary, professional, women's, and-local.
The older societies in the first group may be subdivided according to
seniority and place of origin as follows:
GENERAL FRATERNITIES.
Union Triad. — Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi, Delta Phi.
Historic Triad. — Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Delta Kappa Epsilon.
Pennsylvania Triad — Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Sigma, Phi Kappa Psi.
Double Triad (East). — Mystical Seven, Chi Psi, Zeta Psi, Theta Delta Chi,
Delta Psi, Chi Phi (Princeton, 1854).
Miami Triad.—Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi.
Triple Triad—W.W. W., or The Rainbow (dead), Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Chi Phi
(University of North Carolina), Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa
Alpha, Kappa Sigma, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu.
The characteristics of the three earlier fraternities at Union College are
broadly marked. Twenty years ago and for a long time preceding, the
membership of the few chapters of Kappa Alpha (very few had or have been
established) was limited and exclusive, while the policy of the fraternity
was distinctly one of non-extension. Its immediate imitator, Sigma Phi, was
not long in securing a like classification. It, too, had a restricted number
of chapters, and a tendency to regard the grandfather as having much to do
with the man.
Delta Phi was less exclusive, but did not establish many new chapters and has
held to its earlier standard with less success than the other two. Baird says
of the three great fraternities, Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Delta
Kappa Epsilon, that "they are rivals of each other more frequently than of
other societies, and have the common char-acteristics of chapters of large
size, literary work in their meetings, and wealth in their outward
appointments." He thinks the first excels in literary spirit, the second in
the cultivation of the social side of life, and that the third "occupies a
middle ground."
At Yale they are junior societies, and at that place, more often than
otherwise' are stepping-stones to the senior societies. They are found as
rivals at Hamilton, Columbia, Yale, Amherst, Brown, Bowdoin, Dartmouth,
Michigan, Rochester, Wesleyan, Kenyon, Cornell, Trinity, and Minnesota; the
first and third at Western Reserve, Wil-liams, and College of the City of New
York; the second and third at Chicago and Syra-cuse, and the first two at
Union. Psi Up-silon also has chapters at New York Uni-versity, University of
Pennsylvania, and Lehigh; Alpha Delta Phi at Harvard, Johns Hopkins and
Toronto; and Delta Kappa Epsilon at Colby, Lafayette, Colgate, Rut-gers,
Middlebury, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, De Pauw, Central, Miami,
Cali-fornia, Vanderbilt, Virginia, North Caro-lina, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Alpha Delta Phi and Psi Upsilon continue to pay that attention to the social
standing and lit-erary excellence among their members which has ever
characterized almost all of the chap-ters of each, but are more conservative
as to extension than formerly. Delta Kappa Epsilon is noticeable for good
fellowship and numerous chapters, some of which, as noted, are at minor
colleges. Beta Theta Pi, the first western fraternity, is now one of the
largest and best governed. It places less weight on the propriety or
desirability of what has been called conservatism with respect to increase of
chapters and maintains as high literary excellence among members as older and
formerly more distinguished fraternities. Chi Psi, while not so restricted as
to number of chapters as Sigma Phi or Kappa Alpha, continues one of the
smaller societies; its reputation is as much for good fellowship as for
social or literary excellence. Zeta Psi was formerly one of the smaller
fraternities, but adopted a policy of extension and has grown rapidly. It is
very secret, was founded by Freemasons, and in recent years has made a
remarkable advance in standing and membership. The socially exclusive members
of Delta Psi, like those of Sigma Phi and Kappa Alpha, do not add to their
few chapters. There is considerable wealth centred in this organization.
Among western societies which have shown enterprise and have become prominent
of late years are Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Delta Theta, and Phi Gamma Delta. Some
of the relatively smaller or younger societies, such as Theta Delta Chi, the
(amalgamated) Chi Phi, Sigma Chi, and Delta Tau Delta, are particularly
strong at, a number of colleges. The fraternities in the Pennsylvania and
Miami groups, as a whole, have paid more attention to extension than to the
exclusiveness which has, marked societies forming the Union, Historic, and
Double Triads. Most of the Chapters of the Southern group are confine to
colleges in the South. Since 1880, Beta, Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Tau
Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Chi, and Phi Gamma Delta, which, prior thereto,
were found almost exclusively in western and southern colleges, began to
invade colleges and universities of the North and East, where to-day, in some
instances, they dispute supremacy with older fraternities.
HONORARY FRATERNITIES.
Phi Beta Kappa; Chi Delta Theta, local.Yale, and Sigma Xi, local, Cornell,
1886.
PROFESSIONAL FRATERNITIES.
Theta Xi, English and scientific, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1864;
four chapters in 1890; membership estimated, 450.
Phi Delta Phi, law, ]University of Michigan, 1869; sixteen chapters in 1890;
membership in 1897 estimated, 2,000.
Q. T. V., (not Greek-letter), agricultural and scientific, Massachusetts
Agricultural College, 1869; four chapters in 1890; membership estimated, 650.
Phi Sigma Kappa, scientific and medical, Massachusetts Agricultural College,
1873; three chapters in 1890; membership estimated, 210,
Nu Sigma Nu, medical, University of Michigan, 1882; three chapters in 1890;
membership in 1897 estimated, 200.
Alpha Chi Omega, music (women students), De Pauw University, 1885; two
chapters in 1890; membership estimated, 200.
Phi Alpha Sigma, medical, Bellevue Hospital, 1887; two chapters and an
estimated membership of 150.
COLLEGE SISTERHOODS.
Pi Beta Phi, founded at Monmouth College, Illinois, by eleven young women;
originally called the I. C. Sorosis, now known by the Greek letters which,
placed on the feather of a golden arrow, constitute the society's badge;
colors are wine red and pale blue and its flower is the carnation; there were
nineteen chapters reported in 189Q in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas,
Michigan, Nebraska,, Colorado, District of Columbia, Ohio, and 'Minnesota.
Total membership is probably not over 1,600.
Kappa Kappa Gamma, organized at Monmouth, Ill., 1870, by four young women, in
preference to accepting membership in a proposed sisterhood. It spread to
colleges through the central western and northwestern States, and by 1890 had
twenty-two active chapters, with a form of government similar to that of many
Greek-letter fraternities. Its colors are dark and light blue, and the badge
is a jewelled key with the letters Kappa Kappa Gamma and Alpha Omega Omicron
enamelled in black thereon. Present membership, about 2,200.
Kappa Alpha Theta, organized at De Pauw University, Indiana, in 1870, by a
daughter of a member of the Beta Theta Pi, and three other women students,
assisted by the father of the founder. Its government was vested in the
parent chapter until 1883, when it was placed in the hands of a Grand Chapter
composed of one member from each chapter. Its flower is the pansy, Its colors
are black and gold and its badge is a kite-shaped shield with a black field
and white chevron bearing the Greek letters forming its name. Its twenty
active chapters in 1890 were scattered through the central western and
northwestern States, with a few in California, Pennsylvania, New York, and
Vermont. Present membership is approximately 1,900.
Delta Gamma, founded at the University of Mississippi, in 1872, by three
women, the outgrowth of a social organization at a neighboring educational
institution. The twelve active chapters in 1890 were distributed through
southern, central, northwestern, a few far western, and in eastern States.
March 15 is observed as a day of reunion, when the alumni, so far as
possible, visit active chapters or communicate with them by mail. A Grand
(governing) and Deputy Grand Chapter is chosen every four years. There are
alumni chapters at Cleveland, Milwaukee, Chicago, and other cities. Its
colors are pink, blue, and bronze, and the pearl rose is the society flower.
The badge is a gold anchor, with a shield above the flukes bearing the
letters, forming the name of the organization.
Alpha Phi, founded at Syracuse University, in 1872, by ten women
students. Nine years later it established the second or Beta Chapter, that at
Northwestern University , but has continued a conservative policy in this
respect, having formed only five chapters by 1890, the others being at Boston
University, De Pauw, and Cornell. There are several alumni chapters, The
first society chapter house among Greek-letter sisterhoods was erected by the
Alpha (Syracuse) Chapter of Alpha Phi. Lilies of the valley and forget-me-nots
are the flowers of the sisterhood. Its colors are silver gray and red, and
its badge is a monogram formed of the letters composing its name. Frances
Willard, late President of the W. C. T. U., was one of its alumni.
Gamma Phi Beta, founded at Syracuse University, 1874, by four women students,
aided by Bishop E. 0. Haven, then Chancellor of the University. Its four
other chapters in 1890 were located at Ann Arbor-, University of Wisconsin,
Boston University, and Northwestern University. The society flower is the
carnation. Its colors are fawn and seal brown, and the badge is a monogram of
the three Greek letters within a crescent.
Sigma Kappa was organized at Colby University, Waterville, Me., 1874.
Estimated
membership 130.
Alpha Beta Tau was founded in 1881, at Oxford Female Institute, Oxford,
Miss., with a branch at the University of Mississippi. Its total membership
is about 290.
P. E. O. (Not Greek-letter.) Little is known of this society, which exists
West and South, both at and without college cities and towns. There appears
to be an especial element of secrecy attached to it. Its membership, has been
estimated at about 2,000.
Delta Delta Delta was organized in 1888 at Boston University by four young
women. In 1890 it had five chapters. It is governed by convention, and during
recess by the officers and parent chapter. It displays the pansy, gold,
silver, and blue colors, and a badge consisting of a crescent with three
deltas upon it and three stars between the horns. Its membership is about 300.
Beta Sigma Omicron was founded at the University of Missouri in 1889.
LOCAL FRATERNITIES.
I. K. A. (not Greek), Trinity, 1829. Founded by six students of the classes
of '29, '30, and '32. Its color is royal purple. The badge is a St. Andrew's
cross, bearing the initials of its title on three of the arms, and 1776 on
the fourth. Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, St. Ann's, New York, and Rev. George
Mallory, editor of the "Churchman," New York, are among its best known alumni.
Skull and Bones was founded at Yale College, as a senior society, by fifteen
members of the class of 1832. A writer in the New York "Tribune," in 1896,
states that :
The father of "Bones," first of the senior societies, is believed to have
been General William H. Russell, '37, who died a few years ago, after having
been for many years at the head of a famous military academy in the city of
New Haven. It is a part of college tradition that "Bones" is a branch of a
university corps in Germany, in which country General Russell spent some time
before his graduation. One of the classmates who joined with him in
establishing the society at Yale was the late Alphonso Taft of Cincinnati,
President Hayes's Attorney-General. The society flourished from the start.
For a long time it held its meetings in hired rooms; but in 1856 the
windowless, vine-covered brown stone hall in High Street, near Chapel Street,
opposite the campus, was erected. A few years ago the society found more
space necessary and built a. large wing to the ball. The building is about 30
feet high, 33 feet wide, and 44 feet deep. The property is held by the
Russell Trust Association, a name assumed in honor of General Russell. On the
last Thursday in May the entire college assembles before Durfee Hall, among
whom the juniors are conspicuous, for they all know that lightning is to
strike forty-five of them. Soon a "Bones" man appears who, however good
natured, wears a, solemn look as he passes in and out among the crowd.
Suddenly he taps or slaps a junior on the shoulder,* and says sternly, "Go to
your room." Amid wild cheering the lucky man obeys mutely, followed by the
one who tapped him, who says, " Will you accept an election to the society
known as ‘Skull and Bones?' " and goes away in silence, while the junior
returns to receive the congratulations of friends. About the same time a
"Keys" man, and a "Wolf's. Head" man in his wake, go through the same
evolutions. Between "tapping time," and initiation a week elapses, During
this time the slapper and the slapped preserve a sacred mutual silence,
except when the new man is notifled of the time and place of the awful
ordeal, to be consummated in the recesses of the society house.[* Secret
Societies at Yale. Rupert Hughes, McClure's Magazine, June, 1894. –RoadsEnd
note-This article is not in McClure’s, June 1984, I have looked in both
library compilation volumes and individual issues.]
This peculiar ceremony of nominating or choosing new members of the Yale
senior societies, original there with Skull and Bones and imitated by "Keys"
and by
Wolf's Head, is, doubtless, derived from. the accolade, or conferring of
knighthood, in ancient times an embrace; but more recently a blow on the
shoulder with the flat of a sword. But still more singular is the custom of
the Yale juniors in assembling on the campus between four and six o'clock, on
the particular Thursday in May, accompanied by half the college, and hundreds
of other spectators, entirely without announce-ment from or arrangement by
any one. The writer first referred to points out, in addition to the fact
that Yale's senior so-cieties meet Thursday nights in closely guarded society
houses, that a "Bones" man, while in college, is never without his badge, a
skull and bones, with the figures "322" in place of the lower jaw; that if in
swimming without bathing costume, he carries it in his mouth; that one of the
newly chosen "Bones" men wears two (overlapped) badges for six months, and
that the "sanctum sanctorum" in the Bones" house is referred to by the
figures 322." There is a tradition, however, that the "322," the sum of which
is the perfect number and. suggests a "mystical seven," means "founded in
'32, 2d chapter" (the first being "the German corps "); also, that the
members trace their society "to a Greek patriot organization, dating back to
Demosthenes, 322 B.C. The 'Bones' records of 1881, it is alleged, are headed
'Anno-Demotheni 2203.'" An election to "Bones" is generally the secret
ambition of almost all Yale men, even over the bones of the Greek-letter
societies, although Scroll and Key, and Wolf's Head, of late, have made such
strides as to frequently dispute the first place which the older senior
society has bad in the minds of available material. "Bones" generally elects
honor men and athletic stars. Scroll and Key takes men of the same rank, but
more frequently from among the social. element, while Wolf's Head has taken
men which might have been welcome additions to either "Bones" or "Keys." The
following are the names of some of the better known Yale graduates who are
"Bones" men: President Dwight, Ellis H. Roberts, William W. Crapo, Daniel C.
Gilman, Andrew D. White, Chauncey M. Depew, Moses Coit Tyler, Eugene
Schuyler, William Walter Phelps, Anthony Higgins, Daniel H. Chamberlain,
Franklin McVeagh, William Collins Whitney, William Graham Sumner, George
Peabody Wetmore, Wilson Shannon Bissell, John C. Eno, Theodore S. Woolsey,
Walker Blaine, Arthur T. Hadley, Robert J. Cook, Judge William H. Taft,
Walter Camp, Sheffield Phelps, and Alonzo A. Stagg. The three historic junior
societies at Yale are Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Kappa Epsilon,
although Zeta Psi has figured there of late years as a sophomore and junior
society. Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, and Wolf's Head, as a matter of
practice, each elect fifteen members annually, generally from among members
of the first three societies named, seldom from members of that last named,
and still less frequently elect a junior who is not a member of any of the
Greek-letter fraternities.
Lambda Iota was founded at the University of Vermont by thirteen students,
where it has since maintained a prosperous existence. Its badge consists of
an owl on the top of a column or pillar between the letters forming the
society's name. It numbers three governors of Vermont among its alumni. Its
membership is more than 400.
Scroll and Key was founded at Yale in 1841, by members of the class of '42,
as a rival senior society to Skull and Bones, most of the peculiarities of
which it copied. (See Skull and. Bones.) It celebrated its fiftieth
anniversary with a three days' jubilee in May, 1892, in its society house at
New Haven, one of the handsomest structures of the kind in the country. It is
incorporated as the Kingsley Trust Association. It is related that on the
nights when the society meets all the active "Keys" men in New Haven are
required to be in the society house from half-past six until half-past
twelve' and that none of them is allowed to leave the building during that
period, "unless accompanied by another man." In preserving a deep mystery
about its affairs, in not mentioning the society in the presence of an
outsider, and in retaining constant possession of badges by undergraduate
members, "Keys" parallels its prototype. While members of the latter wear
their badges on their vests, "Keys" men frequently wear theirs on their
neckties. The "Keys" badge consists of a gold key across a scroll, with the
letters "C. S. P." above, and. "C. C. I." below.
It selects annually fifteen members of the junior class by the same process
described as originating with Skull and Bones. Its membership, on the whole,
is characterized as conspicuous for social standing and wealth rather than
for college or athletic honors, though many Yale athletes and honor men have
joined it. Among its prominent graduates are Theodore Runyon, John Addison
Porter, George Shiras, General Wager Swayne, the Rev. Joseph If. Twitchell,
Dr. James W. McLane, George A. Adee, Edward S. Dana, Isaac Bromley, Bartlett
Arkell, and James R. Sheffield.
Wolf's Head was founded at Yale by a number of members of the class of '84,
as a rival senior society to Skull and Bones and to Scroll and Key. (See
those societies.) It copies most, if not all, of the peculiarities of the two
older senior societies. For a few years it was not rated as highly as either
"Bones" or "Keys," and was able to take only the so-called better men in the
Junior Class overlooked by "Bones" and "Keys;" but with the increase in the
size of classes, and the fact that each of the senior societies takes only
fifteen men each year, with increased age and its handsome ivy-clad society
house, Wolf's Head continues to gain upon its older rivals. It is
incorporated as the Phelps Trust Association. Its badge consists of a wolf's
head transfixed on an inverted Egyptian tau, the symbolism suggested by which
is significant, yet probably different from that taught within the pale of
the society.
Phi Nu Theta was organized at Wesleyan University, 1837, shortly after the
appearance there of the Mystical Seven which is now dead, and in some
respects one of the most remarkable college societies in the country. Phi Nu
Theta sought to bring together a few members of each class for mutual
helpfulness and within the past sixty years has initiated about 460 members.
It has a handsome house, and ranks well among Middletown college
fraternities. Its badge is a scroll watch-key with the letters forming its
name engraved thereon. Among its alumni are Rev. Dr. Winchell, formerly of
Syracuse University, the late Bishop Haven and Professor W. O. Atwater.
Kappa Kappa Kappa. Founded at Dart-mouth, Hanover, N. H., in 1842, by six
students, assisted by Professor C. B. Had-dock, the year following the
appearance of
Scroll and. Key at Yale. It numbers about 850 members. The badge is a
Corinthian column and capital of gold with the letters K. K. K. at the base.
It has generally ranked with other fraternities at Dart-mouth.
Delta Psi. Organized at the University of Vermont in 1850. For a few years it
was an anti-secret society. It has no connection with the fraternity by the
same name which was founded at Columbia in 1847. It numbers about 350 members.
Alpha Sigma Pi. Organized at Norwich University, Vermont, in 1857, by seven
students. The military character of the society was the natural outcome of
the college where it appeared. Its colors are blue and white, and the badge
is a gold shield displaying a flag and musket crossed over a drum and the
Greek letters forming the name of the organization. Present membership, about
290. General Granville M. Dodge is, perhaps, its most widely known alumnus.
Phi Zeta Mu was organized in the scientific school, Dartmouth, in 1857, by
five students, members of '58 and '59. It has a monogram badge, a fine
society building, and about 400 members.
Alpha Sigma Phi was founded at Yale in 1846 as a sophomore society. It
established chapters at Harvard in 1850, Amherst in Marietta College, Ohio,
in 1860, and 1857, Marietta College at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1865. The
parent chapter died from internal disagreements, the first two branches were
suppressed by college facilities, and the fourth was withdrawn by the society
itself, which flourishes, therefore, solely at Marietta College. It has about
300 names in its catalogue, and there are several organizations of its
alumni. The society has a fine house. lts badge consists of a shield bearing
an open book on which are hieroglyphics, across it a quill and letters
forming the name of the society.
Berzelius was established at Sheffield, Yale College, in 1863. Its membership
is about 370. The badge "is a combination of potash bulbs in gold," over
which is the letter "B." It ranks high among Yale scientific students.
Sigma Delta Chi was founded at Sheffield Scientific School, Yale, in 1867. It
is sometimes referred to as Book and Snake, because its badge consists of an
open book displaying the letters Sigma Delta Chi, surrounded by a serpent. It
is prosperous and has about 300 members.
The foregoing makes it plain that the secret society system at Yale is
something radically different from that at other colleges. The difference may
be made clear by stating that at almost all colleges the freshman who
receives a bid from and joins a Greek-letter fraternity unites with all
interstate or national society which represents the social, literary, and
human side of college life and binds him closely to itself not only while an
undergraduate, but for life.
At Yale when there used to be freshmen as well as sophomore, junior, and
senior societies, the same general cliques or group of "fellows" were taken
into the same freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior societies in a mass, a
sort of four degrees system, each society representing a different "degree."
The freshmen societies were merely Yale affairs, with no ligaments reaching
to other colleges, and the like is true to-day of Yale's sophomore societies.
Its three junior fraternities are, indeed, parts of as many national college
societies, with a prestige not second even to Yale's senior societies, but
one must leave the shadows of Yale to appreciate the fact. The Yale senior
societies, owing to this exceptional and unfortunate system so far as the
Yale sophomore and junior societies are concerned, are goals, and the
sophomore and junior societies are merely stepping-stones. Twenty-five years
ago the rival freshmen societies were "D. K." (Delta Kappa) and "'Sigma Epps"
(Kappa Sigma Epsilon). The sophomore members endeavored to select freshmen
most likely to make a mark while in college, and great efforts were made by
the rival societies to outwit each other and get "the best men." When the
initiation ceremonies were held, a month later, the sophomores felt that they
were rewarded for their trouble. A correspondent of the New York "Sun" has
described substantially what took place at the initiation of freshmen during
the palmy days of "D. K." and "Sigma Epps," as follows:
The candidate received a black-bordered notification of his election, with
instructions to repair the following evening to some remote street corner.
There he was met by two sophomore members who straightway blindfolded him and
grasped him firmly on either side. Then ensued a Walhalla dance through
bypath and wood and dell. Now the candidate was run it full speed against a
tree, now lie trembled astride a picket fence, now the bandage was lipped so
as to give one glance of an open grave or the dizzy verge of East Rock. Then,
after many miles and countless turns, he was hurried all panting,
struggling, and stumbling, through a busy street, made evident by jostling.,
and derisive calls. He was forced step by step to mount backward a seemingly
interminable flight of stairs, and to wait in a close and heated room until
there was a sudden upward jerk, the bandage was removed, and he found himself
on the roof of a high building with others of his classmates, equally
confused and exhausted. When at length the candidate's name was called in
sombre tones he advanced all uncertain to the scuttle. There he was bound and
blindfolded. Strong arms grasped him from above and from below. He descended
rapidly with many a bump. He was dragged into the main hall, flung into a
great canvas blanket with rope handles, and then, with all the force of a
score of excited young devotees, tossed and slapped again and again against
the lofty ceiling. He was rolled in a cask and nailed in a coffin, and
stretched on a guillotine with one blade—all to an accompaniment of
sulphurous smoke and lurid flashes and piercing yells of "My poor fresh."
But these ceremonies were not always without unfortunate results, and at
times were marked by a degree of hilariousness not explained entirely on the
ground of good nature and a desire to look on the humorous side of life. The
displeasure of the faculty was in outcome, and in 1880 the societies were
abolished. The only remaining Yale freshman fraternity, Gamma Nu, founded in
1859 as a non-secret, literary society, died from internal weakness in 1889,
since which time Yale Greek-letter or other secret freshmen societies have
been extinct. Twenty-five years ago Yale's sophomore fraternities were Phi
Theta Psi and Delta Beta Xi, founded on the ruins, as it were, of Kappa Sigma
Phi and Alpha Sigma Theta. The first, called "Theta Psi," was practically a
stepping-stone to Psi Upsilon, and "Delta Beta" was an ante-room leading to
the sanctum sanctorum of Delta Kappa Epsilon. They took about thirty men each
and held weekly meetings, features of which were mild-mannered literary
exercises and sometimes punch that was anything but mild. So serious were the
results of one occasion of that kind, in 1878, that the faculty
unceremoniously "twisted the neck" of the "phoenix of Theta Psi," and closed
"the book of Delta Beta forever." The two existing sophomore societies are He
Boule and Eta Phi, the first formed in 1875 and the latter in 1879, among the
most powerful organizations at Yale, it being seldom that a member of each
fails of an election to the junior societies. They are almost if not quite as
secret in their workings as the senior societies, and constitute a formidable
factor in college politics. The names of the seventeen members of each,
together with their places of meeting, are confidently believed by members to
be unknown to the outside world; and while, as a matter of fact, such is
seldom or never the case, the fiction is encouraged. The owl and initials of
He Boule and the mask of Eta Phi are worn near the left armholes of the
waistcoat. Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Kappa Epsilon of national
fame, with chapters at many other colleges, each takes thirty-five sophomores
at the end of the year. Zeta Psi, a two-year society at Yale, also takes its
quota. As explained in the sketch of Skull and Bones, these elections have an
important bearing on the chances of those selected for securing membership in
one of the three senior societies. About twenty-five years ago Alpha Delta
Phi refused to continue to be made a means to an end, merely an entryway to a
senior society, and withdrew its Yale Chapter. For nearly a score of years
thereafter Psi Upsilon and Delta Kappa Epsilon monopolized desirable junior
classmen on their way to "Bones" and "Keys," and after 1884 to Wolf's Head.
Six or seven years ago Alpha Delta Phi revived its Yale Chapter, the oldest
secret society at Yale except Skull and Bones, as a four-year fraternity, and
tried to make it a Yale organization on a par with even the senior year
fraternities.
It met with only moderate success, owing to the overpowering weight of Yale
sentiment in favor of class societies, and within a few years accepted the
situation, became a junior society again, so far as that chapter is
concerned, built one of the handsomest and most expensive fraternity houses
at New Haven, and revived its ancient standing as a worthy rival of the Yale
variety of Psi Upsilon and Delta Kappa Epsilon.
This junior society rivalry, however, is more on the surface than otherwise,
the three fraternities being practically private social clubs which meet
separately, of course, to cooperate in the production of plays and burlesques
and in even more distinctively social entertainments. The "Alpha Delt," "Psi
U," and "Deke" halls, or houses, at New Haven are among the most elaborate
and costly structures of the kind in the country. In the week prior to the
"tapping" ceremonial of the senior societies, in May (see Skull and Bones),
the junior societies appear on the campus attired in gowns and hoods, singing
each its own peculiar songs, after which they retire to their several
buildings and proceed to initiate the thirty-five newly fledged members who
are to act as heirs and assigns of these fraternities for the ensuing college
year.
The inspiration, development, rituals, and function of the general college
fraternities, those which do not live in vain, which hold the remembrance and
affection of members well on into their declining years, which often divide
the regard felt for alma mater, call for an analysis which the mere
chronicler may well be excused for not attempting. A recent writer stated
that "many men who have belonged to a Greek-letter society during their
undergraduate days lose interest in the matter before they are five years
away from their alma mater. This is almost inevitable because of new
interests and because a large number of graduates are not associated in their
homes with men who belong to their fraternity." One call hardly refrain from
believing the author of the sentiment is a Yale man. The "Bones" or "Keys"
graduate of Yale might naturally find the height of his ambition in an
election to a senior society. Neither his sophomore nor junior year
fraternities cuts much of a figure beyond the fact that he used them in an
effort to get to, "Bones," "Keys," or Wolf's Head. But the alumnus of
Cornell, Columbia, Amherst, the University of Michigan, and many other
colleges, who is an Alpha Delt," a "Psi U," a "Deke," a "Beta," a "Zete," a
"Kap," a "Sig," or a member of any of a score of others with a national
reputation, remains more often than otherwise a faithful son of such society
so long as he lives, and treasures its records, its traditions and its
influences to' the latest days of his life. The Greek-letter fraternities
antedate all other existing secret societies in America, except the
fraternity of Freemasons. They vary more than might be supposed, for members
are always convinced of the superiority of their own fraternities over all
rivals and confident of the greater loyalty of their own alumni. Some have
elaborate rituals and others ceremonials which would be regarded by good
judges as commonplace. The world at large, unfortunately, has had abundant
evidence during the past twenty-five years of the sensational if not solemn
character of the initiation ceremonies of some, as the results were such as
to endanger the lives of initiates.
Heckethorn* and some others attribute the founding, in 1776, of Phi Beta
Kappa, the mother of American college Greek-letter-fraternities, to the
Illuminati, of Weishaupt, in Bavaria, but this is undoubtedly mere
conjecture. The Illuminati itself was founded in 1776, and it is hardly
likely that a few boys at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, in
those days of extremely infrequent letter-writing and trans-Atlantic voyages,
were inspired in their formation of a Greek-letter secret society by the
illustrious foreigner whose name is linked to an order which for a short time
was grafted upon Freemasonry and then disappeared forever. There is no reason
for believing that American college Greek-letter societies had any
inspiration beyond what appeared on the surface, until after 1828, the year
following the disappearance of Morgan, who was accused of being about to
betray Masonic secrets. In that and several succeeding years politicians made
use of this "good enough Morgan until after election," and so fanned the
anti-Masonic flame that thousands of well-meaning people discovered
prejudices against the fraternity which they never till then suspected
themselves of possessing. Reference has been made to the effect on John
Quincy Adams, Edward Everett, and others, and the history of that time will
reveal some, notably Thurlow Weed, who were less sincere in their antagonism
to Freemasonry, even though no less bitter. This presented an. opportunity to
cranks and charlatans which was not to be despised, and the country was
speedily flooded with supposititious accounts of Masonic ceremonies and
alleged revelations of Masonic secrets. The public mind was directed to that
subject as it never bad been before, and probably never will be again. Secret
societies of the middle ages, the mysteries of Isis and Osiris and of
Eleusis, and the revolutionary secret societies of this and of other
countries, all came in for a critical examination and premeditated
condemnation and got both. The only importance attaching to this reference is
to recall what seems not to have been pointed out before, that it was during
the period from 1828 to 1845, covering the anti-Masonic agitation, that the
older among the best known national Greek-letter college fraternities were
born. At that time the English Order of Foresters was just being introduced
here; the English Order of Odd Fellows had not been domesticated more than a
decade and had only a few members; the English Order of Druids was a new
comer; the American Improved Order of Red Men, as at present organized, was
only then taking shape, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians had just arrived
at New York city from Ireland. Curiosity and prejudice had been mingled in an
effort to find out something with which to condemn the type of the secret
society, Freemasonry, and the effort resulted, among other things, in a study
of secret societies in general. If one can read of groups of college students
at New York and New England centres of intelligence organizing Greek-letter
secret societies on the outward lines established by Phi Beta Kappa, Kappa
Alpha, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi without appreciating that they must have
utilized some of the raw material which was floating in the air, he must be
deficient in imagination. The societies which saw the light in 1825 and 1827,
Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi, probably did not have elaborate
rituals at that time. There are those who know they, had them later. Then
came Alpha Delta., Phi and Skull and Bones in 1832, Psi Upsilon,in 1833,
Mystical Seven in 1837, Beta, Theta Pi in 1839, Chi Psi and Scroll and, Key
in 1841, and Delta Kappa Epsilon in 1844. In these one finds the practical
inspiration for all that came after in the family of Greek-letter societies.
That college fraternities multiplied fast and grew rapidly during this period
is more than significant. As a matter of fact, some of the better known
college fraternities give unmistakable evidence, to those of their members in
a position to judge, of having rummaged in the bureau drawers of Freemasonry,
Odd Fellowship, Forestry, the Templars, Knights of Malta, and other "orders"
for ritualistic finery. Zeta Psi was founded by Freemasons. Delta Psi,
Columbia, 1847, was dressed up by some one who had access to rituals of the
bastard Masonic rites of Misraim and Memphis. Psi Upsilon hung its, harp low
on the tree of symbolic Masonry, while its offspring, Delta Kappa Epsilon,
read up on the Vehmgerichte and ancient Grecian mysteries before selecting a
few ceremonials which would better fit nineteenth-century college life. Theta
Delta Chi went far afield and returned with the Forestic legend, while the
earlier "Alpha Delts" were evidently inspired by what they knew of Royal Arch
Masonry and the Red Cross degree as conferred in commanderies of Masonic
Knights Templars. There would appear to be little room to-day for additions
to the Greek-letter world. There are too many of these fraternities already,
and while there is no tendency on the part of stronger societies to unite,
weaker ones occasionally find their way into older or stronger fraternities.
The latter, having the prestige of age and a distinguished alumni, are
naturally well-nigh invincible.
The general fraternities publish catalogues containing, as estimated, about
111,000 names, honorary about 6,500, professional 4,400, and the ladies,
perhaps, 9,000; in all about 131,000, a large proportion of which are of
deceased members.
pps. 334-347
--[cont]--
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
All My Relations.
Omnia Bona Bonis,
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
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