The Phi Beta Kappa Society was founded on December 5, 1776 by five College of William and Mary students. The first meeting of the organization took place in the Old Raleigh Tavern’s Apollo Room.
As the first Greek-letter collegiate society, it led the way for the other organizations, both social and honorary, which followed it. Among its hallmarks were a badge, an oath of secrecy, a Greek motto, an initiation ceremony, and a handshake. Phi Beta Kappa’s motto is “Love of learning is the guide of life.”
One hundred years ago, the officers of Phi Beta Kappa were listed in an issue of Banta’s Greek Exchange. The officers were:
Officers President – Professor Edwin Augustus Grosvenor, Amherst, MA Vice president – Edward Asahel Birge, Madison, WI Secretary – Oscar M. Voorhees, NYC Treasurer – David Layton, NYC * Senators 1910-16 Dean Edward Asahel Birge, Madison, WI Williams College alumnus He did graduate work at Harvard studying under Louis Agassiz. He was a pioneer in the field of limnology. Birge was president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as Phi Beta Kappa’s vice-president of United Chapters, 1913-19 and president 1919-22. Professor Samuel Hart, Middletown, CT Trinity College alumnus, Psi Upsilon He was professor of Trinity College. He also served as vice dean and professor at the Berkeley Divinity School. President Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Cambridge, MA An educator and legal scholar, he served as president of Harvard University from 1909-33. Editor Hamilton Wright Mabie, NYC Williams College alumnus, Alpha Delta Phi An essayist, critic, editor and lecturer, Mabie was the first president of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC). Professor Clark Sutherland Northrup, Ithaca, NY Cornell University alumnus He taught at Cornell University. President Ellen Fitz Pendleton, Wellesley, MA Wellesley College alumna After having served as a Wellesley faculty member, she became president in 1911 and served in that position for 25 years. Professor Edward B. Reed, New Haven, CT Yale University alumnus, Psi Upsilon He taught at Yale and in 1929 he was the Beta Alumni Chapter’s representative. President James Monroe Taylor, Poughkeepsie, NY University of Rochester alumnus, Alpha Delta Phi He served as president of Vassar College from 1886-1914. Director Talcott Williams, NYC Amherst College alumnus, Alpha Delta Phi A journalist and educator, he served as the first director of the Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Albert Shaw, NYC Grinnell College alumnus He edited the Review of Reviews magazine. Senators 1913-19 President Francis Brown, NYC Dartmouth College alumnus He taught at the Union Theological Seminary and served as the institution’s seventh president. President John Huston Finley, NYC Knox College alumnus He served as president of Knox College and the City College of New York. He also taught at Princeton University and was a magazine editor. Professor Edwin Augustus Grosvenor, Amherst, MA Amherst College alumnus, Psi Upsilon He spent most of his career teaching at Amherst College. President John Grier Hibben, Princeton, NJ College of New Jersey (Princeton University) alumnus He served as president of Princeton University from 1912–1932. Professor Francis Wayland Shepardson, Chicago, IL Denison College alumnus, Beta Theta Pi He served on the faulty of the University of Chicago. In addition, he was the national president of Beta Theta Pi and edited three editions of Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities. President Charles F. Thwing, Cleveland, OH Harvard College alumnus President of Western Reserve University (now Case-Western Reserve University) from 1890-1921. In his book Letters from a Father to His Son Entering College, published in 1912, Thwing wrote, “At this point lies all I want to say to you about joining a fraternity. If the men you want to be your intimate friends are members and ask you to join, accept. If the men you do not wish to be your intimate friends wish you to go with them, decline. Do not join for the sake of a blind pool membership. Such a membership is really a sort of social insincerity, a lie.” President George Edgar Vincent, Minneapolis, MN Yale University alumnus, Delta Kappa Epsilon He served as president of the Chautauqua Institution before he joined the faculty at the University of Chicago. In 1911, he became the president of the University of Minnesota. Reverend Oscar M. Voorhees, NYC Rutgers University alumnus, Sigma Nu He edited The Phi Beta Kappa Key magazine. President Mary Emma Woolley, South Hadley, MA Brown University alumna (one of first women to graduate from that institution) She was president of Mount Holyoke College from 1901-37. Professor Bliss Perry, Cambridge, MA Williams College alumnus He was editor of The Atlantic Monthly from 1899-1909. He also taught at Williams College, Princeton University, Harvard University and the University of Paris.The chapter at the College of William and Mary might have been a footnote in history had it not been for Elisha Parmele, a former Yale College student and Harvard College alumnus. While in Williamsburg, he became associated with Phi Beta Kappa and obtained charters from the society to establish chapters at Harvard and Yale. When the College of William and Mary faced a temporary closure in 1781, prior the British invasion, the Phi Beta Kappa chapter disbanded. However, Parmele had used the charters to establish the chapter at Yale in 1780 and one at Harvard in 1781. The Dartmouth chapter was founded in 1887 and the society became an honorary academic association.
Parmele became a minister; in those days, most Yale and Harvard grads pursued the ministry. He died at the age of 31. The most lasting accomplishment in his short life was likely establishing those two Phi Beta Kappa chapters in New England.
The first two women to become members of Phi Beta Kappa were members of the University of Vermont’s Kappa Alpha Theta chapter. Lida Mason and Ellen Hamilton Woodruff became the first of many fraternity women who have been members of the organization. The first Phi Beta Kappa chapter at a women’s college was established in 1893 at Vassar College.
In 1936, Phi Beta Kappa held its sesquicentennial in Williamsburg, Virginia. A Delta Gamma who attended the meeting later wrote about it for The Anchora of Delta Gamma (January 1927), “The banquet served in the refectory was cheering both to body and mind – a really joyous affair, in fact – where Dr. John H. Finley brilliantly bantered Dr. Erskine concerning Helen of Troy and Galahad, and where Dr. Mary Woolley of Mt. Holyoke with pride and humor upheld the women of Phi Beta Kappa.”
*Although Layton is listed as Treasurer, his name was not included in the list of Senators. I do not know if this was a typesetting error in Banta’s Greek Exchange. Also, I have done my best trying to figure out fraternity affiliations. It was a cumbersome process. There may be one or two who have a Greek affiliation which I could not uncover. If you know of any corrections, etc., please let me know. Thanks.![Phi_Beta_Kappa_Key[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.franbecque.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Phi_Beta_Kappa_Key1.png?ssl=1)
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