Syracuse has been on my mind lately. I’m not in Syracuse, but this view as I walked out the door yesterday morning reminded me of the quad at Syracuse.
The University of Illinois
The school’s colors even involve orange. And for many years both schools had Indians as mascots. The Pi Beta Phi chapter at Illinois was chartered on October 26, 1895 and on February 11, 1896, the chapter at Syracuse was installed as the next chapter on the roll call.
There is even an observatory, although I do not think this one has been moved as Holden Observatory was in 1991.
The Observatory at the University of Illinois
In trying to find out when Holden Observatory at Syracuse was moved, I came across a nifty photo essay about Holden (http://bit.ly/1I6Srf3). I also found that Holden was named in memory a Syracuse graduate, Charles Demarest Holden.
I looked to see if Holden was a fraternity man. He was. He was initiated into Psi Upsilon (see a post earlier this week about the Psi Upsilon chapter house) along with Charles Melville Moss. Moss married Frances Haven, a founder of Gamma Phi Beta. He moved her to Illinois and Moss spent most of his professional career teaching Greek at the University of Illinois. The Mosses are buried in a cemetery at the edge of the campus. Frances was instrumental in the founding of the Gamma Phi chapter at Illinois and their daughter was a member of that chapter.
I am here in Champaign-Urbana to work on the history of the Illinois Delta chapter of Phi Kappa Psi for the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing. Last night I took a walk to see the progress being made on the renovation/restoration of the chapter house.
The home of the Illinois Delta chapter of Phi Kappa Psi is currently undergoing a restoration/renovation, hence the fence.
The photos would have been better taken during daylight, but I was in the archives until 5 p.m. at which time it was already dark!
While doing research in the Student Life and Culture Archives, I was able to see the exhibit of Fred Turner’s woodcuts. Turner and his wife Betty sent out numbered and signed prints of the woodcuts. Turner followed in the footsteps of Thomas Arkle Clark, Alpha Tau Omega, as Dean of Men at Illinois. He then became the first Dean of Students. He also served as National President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon from 1943-45 and as President of the National Interfraternity Conference from 1967-68. To view the exhibit on-line see http://archives.library.illinois.edu/slc/news-events/exhibits/woodblocks/
The Fourth District Appellate Courthouse located in the center of Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Woodcut by Fred Turner, it was the Turner’s 1957 Christmas Card. (courtesy of the Student Life and Culture archives)
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. All rights reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
