Delta Psi

St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectarian organization.

In 1879, William Raimond Baird's '' American College Fraternities'' characterized the fraternity as having "the reputation of being the most secret of all the college societies." A modern writer says the fraternity is "a cross between Skull and Bones and a Princeton eating club, with a large heaping of Society and more than a dash of ''Animal House''." Nearly all chapters of St. Anthony Hall are coed. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

References to St. Anthony Hall have appeared in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, John O'Hara, and Tom Wolfe.

History

According to '' Baird's'', the ''Alpha chapter'' of the Fraternity of Delta Psi was founded at Columbia University in by John Hone Anthon, Sam. F. Barger, Charles Arms Budd, and William Myn Van Wagener.Baird, William Raimond (1890). "Membership and Chapters.
''American College Fraternities: A Descriptive Analysis of the Society System in the Colleges of the United States, with Detailed Account of Each Fraternity''.
4th edition: New York, NY. Frank Williams. pp. 21-22, pp. 70 – via The Hathi Trust. In an article in ''The'' ''Review'' magazine, the fraternity says Anthon was a founder, the first leader, and an important Mason. Another source says the fraternity was started by the fifteen-year-old Edward Forbes Travis who came to Columbia University from England "with an odd fascination for St. Anthony the Great, the gnarled fourth–century mystic." In this scenario, Travis shared "certain rituals" with a Charles Arms Budd on the Saint's feast day, creating "a sacred bond that was soon extended to others."

According to its national website, Delta Psi was founded on the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great as a "fraternity dedicated to the love of education and the well–being of its members." The fraternity developed "a literary flavor: members would spend hours reading essays to one another for general critique or amusement." By 1853, it was holding an Annual Literary Festival and Dinner. It also held evenings featuring orators and poets, often publishing the pomes or speeches.

A ''Beta chapter'' at New York University was also formed on January 17, 1847. However ''Beta'' was short-lived; the Columbia College's ''Record'' listed the NYU founders alongside its own students. In 1879, '' Baird's'' listed seventeen chapters opening throughout the Northeast and South during the mid 19th–century.

During the Civil War, formal contact ended between the Northern and Southern chapters, and all of the Southern chapters closed. In fact, 25% of the young fraternity's membership died in the Civil War, with 90 of the 109 deaths coming from the Southern chapters. In December 1865, the fraternity held its annual convention in New York City. ''The New York Times'' reported, "Attendance from all the Northern chapters was large, and measures were taken to give the most cordial assistance in response to applications for the rehabilitation of the Southern chapters in such of their colleges are again in operation."

Three of the Southern chapters resumed operations: the University of Virginia, the University of Mississippi, and Washington & Lee. In April 1867, eleven members of the ''Williams College chapter'' commissioned a life-sized portrait of a fallen brother; the portrait was displayed at the Schwabe Gallery of Fallen Heroes in Boston, along with the portraits of four other fraternity brothers. Members from many Southern chapters attended a commemorative dinner in New York City in December 1871.

In 1894, Yale's ''Sigma chapter'' built a dormitory building and named it St. Anthony Hall, apparently the first use of that name.In addition to St. Anthony Hall, Yale's other old-line Eastern fraternities (~junior societies) named their buildings with "Hall" nicknames by which they wished to be known on campus: thus the Theta Xi chapter was ''Franklin Hall'', Phi Sigma Kappa's ''Epsilon chapter'' adopted the name ''Sachem Hall'', Chi Delta Theta (local literary honorary) established the ''Manuscript Society'', Sigma Delta Chi (local) was renamed the ''Cloister Club'' which soon became ''Book and Snake''. Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) was ''Vernon Hall'' which later became '' Myth and Sword'', Chi Phi was ''York Hall'', Psi Upsilon became the ''Fence Club'', and finally, similarly-named Delta Phi was known at Yale as ''St. Elmo's''. Delta Psi's St. Anthony Hall nickname spread throughout its chapters. The Fraternity of Delta Psi also became known as the Order of St. Anthony and St. Anthony Hall.

In accordance with the respective traditions of each chapter, St. Anthony Hall is now self–described and referred to on its various campuses as a fraternity or coed fraternity, a secret society or literary society, or a private club. A former Yale chapter president said, "Chapters have a range of degrees of secrecy." In 2006, a Yale member said, "Our secret aspects are truly secret, and our non–secret aspects are truly non–secret"

Symbols

The 1879 edition of '' Baird's'' describes the fraternity's badge as a " Saint Anthony's cross, with curved sides. The cross bears a shield in blue enamel displaying the letters . On the bar of the cross are engraved four Hebrew letters, and beneath the shield the skull and bones." The badge was designed by Henry Steel Olcott in 1850.

This is different from the flat-topped crest illustrated in the 1873 University of Pennsylvania ''Record,'' although the Greek letters are present. (See infobox for illustration). The yearbook illustration also shows a tau cross or Saint Anthony's cross, a skull, a sword, a key, a floating triangle, and four Hebrew letters. The sword and the key are crossed, with the skull on top.

In 1860 when the Civil War seemed inevitable, fraternal medallions were made for the brothers to attach to their uniforms so they would be recognized as a member of Delta Psi on the battlefield. A photograph of a medallion in the fraternity's archives shows a round, gold coin with a skull as its central figure. Beneath the skull is a crossed sword and key. Encircling the outer edge of the medallion is a list of each chapter's Greek letter and date of founding.

Chapters

There are eleven active chapters of Delta Psi, including the following (chapters noted in bold are active; chapters noted in ''italics'' are dormant). Note that the now–dormant Delta Psi local fraternity at the University of Vermont (1850–2004) was never affiliated.

There have been rumors that the ''Lambda chapter'' operates underground; Williams College banned all fraternities in the 1960s, phasing them out by 1970. In 2003, ''The Williams Record'' reported that the fraternity began operating as the coed Vermont Literary Society as early as 1973. At that time, the Vermont Literary Society was meeting outside of Williamstown at a place in Vermont referred to as "The Barn". The college offered amnesty to any students who came forward; however, none took advantage of the offer. Again in 2020, there were reports that the Vermont Literary Society was still active as the underground ''Lambda chapter''. ''The Williams Record'''s investigation noted that Williams College graduates from 2016 were serving on the board of the ''Lambda chapter'''s alumni association. However, the paper later reported that the group disbanded in August 2020.

Notes

Members

Members of St. Anthony Hall call each other "Brother", "Sister", or "Sibling" according to individual preference. In 1961, the ''Yale chapter'' was the first fraternity on campus to admit a person of color. The ''University of North Carolina chapter'' was the first fraternity at its campus to admit African–American members in 1967, followed by the ''University of Mississippi chapter''. In recent times, the fraternity's membership has become more multicultural.

In 1969, the ''Yale chapter'' was the first to go coed, also becoming the first Yale society to accept women. Additional chapters subsequently turned coed, including Columbia University, MIT in 1969, the University of North Carolina in 1971, and Trinity College in 1985. Other chapters were reestablished as coed including, Brown University in 1983, Princeton University in 1986, and the University of Rochester in 2010. The University of Pennsylvania, the University of Mississippi and the University of Virginia chapters remain all–male.

In 2016, '' Town & Country'' included the ''Columbia University chapter'' of St. Anthony Hall in its list of the "six most exclusive clubs of the Ivey League".

Activities

St. Anthony Hall members pursue their literary mandate through different programs at the various chapters. The ''Brown chapter'' publishes a literary and visual arts magazine called ''The Sketchbook'' and hosts bi-weekly literary readings. The ''UNC chapter'' hosts open mic nights, poetry readings, and art shows. The ''Delta chapter'' at the University of Pennsylvania hosts an annual lecture series with nationally significant speakers and also organizes a book drive and reading program for a local public school. The ''MIT chapter'' hosts a scholarly lecture series, coffee hours, and participates in charitable activities. The ''Yale chapter'' sponsors a public series of Sigma Seminars every two to three weeks on literature, poetry, art, and current affairs; a recent speaker was Pap Souleye Fall, a Senegalese–American interdisciplinary and comic artist. The ''Trinity chapter'' hosts its annual Clement Lectures. The ''Columbia chapter'' hosts writers to discuss their works at least once a semester and also engages in charitable fundraising.

The ''Trinity chapter'' endows a St. Anthony Professorship in Art History, several annual prizes for Trinity students, and the annual Martin W. Clement lecture. In 1970 when it went coed, the ''Yale chapter'' endowed a scholarship at Yale for women. The ''Yale chapter'' also offers the St. Anthony Hall Chase Coggins Fellowship.

Chapter houses and buildings

Many of the St. Anthony Hall chapter houses were designed by well–known 19th and early 20th–century architects such as Henry Forbes Bigelow, J. Cleveland Cady, Cope and Stewardson, Wilson Eyre Jr., Heins & LaFarge, Charles C. Haight, Henry Hornbostel, J. Harleston Parker, William Hamilton Russell, and Stanford White.

In an 1891 newspaper feature article on American college societies, three Delta Psi chapter houses were illustrated—Trinity, Williams, and Yale—amongst the fifteen houses depicted.

''Alpha'': Columbia University

The ''Alpha chapter'' originally met at the Simon DeWitt Bloodgood house. In 1879, a new building was constructed at 29 East 28th Street for the ''Alpha chapter'' and its alumni group, the St. Anthony Club of New York. According to the ''New-York Tribune'', it was "the first of the Greek letter societies to establish in New York a club which presents many of the features of the other social clubs in the city." The ''Alpha chapter's'' Renaissance–inspired lodge in red and yellow brick was designed by William Hamilton Russell, a member of St. Anthony Hall and an architect with the firm of James Renwick, Jr. ''The Hartford Courant'' wrote, "The decorations of the interior are most elaborate, and altogether it is said to be one of the most beautiful college secret society buildings in the country."

In 1885, a small addition was added to the back of the building. The '' St. Louis Globe–Democrat'' wrote, "The lodge room on the Delta Psi fraternity in New York is magnificently furnished in Egyptian designs especially imported from Thebes for this purpose, at the cost of thousands of dollars…" In 1990, the ''New York Times'' wrote, "Old photographs show...the figure of an owl on the peaked yramidroof and a plaque with the Greek letters Delta Psi over the windowless chapter room." Later alterations were made by J.A. Moore in 1899 and 1918, including adding 1.5 stories that replaced the original pyramid roof; the stone shield remains between the fourth-floor windows.

In 1895, Columbia University moved its campus north of the city to Morningside Heights. To be closer to the new campus, the ''Alpha chapter'' purchased land on 434 Riverside Drive on March 23, 1897. To design a new chapter house, they hired Henry Hornbostel and George Carnegie Palmer (a member of St. Anthony Hall) of the firm of Wood, Palmer and Hornbostel. The architects' plans were filed with the city on August 26, 1898, and the building was completed in 1898. The resulting five-story plus basement structure is a combination of Beaux Arts and French Renaissance revival styles. It is constructed of red brick, is trimmed liberally in limestone, and has dormers covered in copper. At the top of the building is a carved relief of the Greek letters . The interior included reception rooms, a billiard room, a dining room, a library, and bedrooms for twenty members. In 1996, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Delta Psi, ''Alpha chapter''. The chapter house is also a contributing building to the Broadway–Riverside Drive National Register Historic District.

''Delta'': University of Pennsylvania

Regarded as the first purpose-built fraternity house on the University of Pennsylvania campus, the original Delta Psi house was a Florentine or Renaissance Revival style design by Wilson Eyre Jr. It is located at 32 South 22nd Street, across the Schuykill from Penn's West Philadelphia campus. It opened in January 1889, and also housed the St. Anthony Club of Philadelphia. ''Catalogue of the Members of the Fraternity of Delta Psi''. New York: Fraternity of Delta Psi, 1900. ''via'' Google Books It served the fraternity from 1889 to 1908.

In 1907, Cope and Stewardson designed the chapter's next house in the Academic Gothic style.Susan S. Koenig Cannon (May 2003).
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: St. Anthony Hall House
(PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-03. Saint Anthony is depicted in a stained glass window in the stairway landing of the first floor; as seen in the photo, a stone tau cross is also above the second-story windows on the exterior. This brick and limestone three-story house was added to National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as St. Anthony Hall House. This chapter house is described and pictured in George E. Nitzsche's ''University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Traditions, Buildings and Memorials: Also a Brief Guide to Philadelphia''.

''Upsilon'': University of Virginia

The University of Virginia's brick chapter house with two-story tall columns and a spacious portico was the third fraternity house constructed on Grounds—although it was the first with residential use in mind. Built in 1902, this Colonial Revival or Jeffersonian style house is "beautifully situated on 'Page Hill'" and blends well with the campus architecture designed by Thomas Jefferson. The ''Upsilon chapter'' house was designed by J. Harleston Parker, founder of the Harleston Parker Medal. It cost $20,000 to build. The interior was "furnished with taste throughout", and included ten bedrooms, a library, a billiard room, and a 20 foot by 35-foot reception room that was paneled in oak. There was also electric lighting, running hot and cold water, and steam heat. The house is included ''The Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia''" by K. Edward Lay.

''Epsilon'': Trinity College

A gift of fraternity member and recent graduate Robert Habersham Coleman, the ''Trinity chapter's'' granite lodge was designed in the rusticated Richardsonian Romanesque style by J. Cleveland Cady in 1878.Andrews, Gregory E. and Herzan, John
National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form: Saint Anthony Hall"
National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-11-21. Cady was also a member of Trinity's ''Epsilon chapter'' of St. Anthony Hall. This was one of the most expensive fraternity houses in America at the time and was also a "radical departure from the customary tomb-like structures of the secret societies of other campuses". Added in 1985 to the National Register of Historic Places, as Saint Anthony Hall, the ''Epsilon chapter'' home is the oldest St. Anthony Hall fraternity building still in use. It is also the oldest fraternity house at Trinity, and one of the oldest buildings on campus.

''Kappa'': Brown University

The ''Brown University chapter'' house at 154 Hope Street in Providence, Rhode Island, was designed by Stone, Carpenter & Wilson in the Colonial Revival style in 1895. The house features ogee gables and a conservatory, as well as an addition added in 1961. Originally a private residence for Alice and Robert W. Taft, the brick building was later owned by Bryant University who called it Taft Hall and used it as its administration building from 1947 through 1969. When Brown acquired the building in 1969, it was renamed King House in 1974 in honor of Lida Shaw King, former dean of Pembroke College. Brown provides King House to the ''Kappa'' chapter as a residential student program house.

''Lambda'': Williams College

The former Williams College chapter house dates from 1886 and was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White. White had just designed a New York City townhouse for fraternity member Frederick Ferris Thompson, who provided White to create the ''Lamba chapter'' house. The chapter house was constructed in of blue freestone and combines early Norman and Old English styles. It has been described as "a witty paraphrase of a Dutch Colonial house, compact in silhouette and terminating in proud stepped gables. But no such Dutch house ever had such an audacious tower, tapered in the fashion of an Egyptian pylon." The interior has "an elaborate interplay of crossbeams on the ceiling combined with heroically oversized fireplaces..."

In 1905, an addition was added to the southwest end that had electricity and included nine bedrooms, a library, four studies, and three bathrooms. However, the addition was destroyed by a fire in May 1926, probably the result of faulty electrical wiring. Architect Roger Bullard and local contractors restored the wing. However, on January 21, 1927, another fire destroyed the new southwest wing, and the dining room ceiling collapsed, blowing out the windows on the first floor. Another addition was added to the south, but does not impact the main view of the house.

Because fraternities were banned at Williams in the 1960s, ''Lambda chapter'' sold its building to the college in 1970. The still–named Saint Anthony Hall now houses the college's Center for Developmental Economics. The 17,540 square foot building was renovated and refurbished in 1996. It still includes a bronze relief memorial to fraternity member Frederick Ferris Thompson, designed in 1906 by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

''Phi'': University of Mississippi

A former ''Phi chapter'' house was subsequently a childhood home Nobel Laureate William Faulkner. The Faulkners lived there from 1912 to 1922 when fraternities were outlawed at the University of Mississippi. Sited where the Alumni Center Hotel now stands, this late 19th–century brick turreted house was the first building of note that incoming freshmen saw when they walked from the train station to campus.

''Sigma'': Yale University

The original ''Sigma chapter'' house was built in 1879 and no longer exists. This five–story building was said to be "the finest thing of the kind in any university in the country". In 1885, the chapter built a new house, also no longer in existence, that was designed by Harrison W. Lindsley who was a member of the ''Yale chapte''r. It was a Richardsonian Romanesque style structure built of red sandstone. In 1894, the chapter started construction of a dormitory building designed by George Lewis Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge of the firm Heins & LaFarge. Located at 133 College Street, the dormitory housed 26 men and was named St. Anthony Hall—perhaps the first use of that name. It was built of East Haven sandstone to match the nearby chapter house and featured large parlors, a 20 foot by 30-foot library filled with books, a porch with carved stone decorations, and servants quarters.

Around 1903, fraternity member Frederick William Vanderbilt commissioned a gift of two limestone residential halls adjacent to the chapter house. These were constructed between 1903 and 1906. Next, Vanderbilt hired Charles C. Haight to create a matching Neo–Gothic style chapter house which was completed in 1913 at 483 College Street. The ornamental iron gates from the second chapter house were re-used at the corner entrance of the new octagonal tower. It is believed that Rafael Guastavino Jr. built the domed ceiling in a basement room called The Crypt; Guastavino previously worked on Biltmore Estate for Vanderbilt's younger brother. The Crypt "has a wonderful sound parabola, where someone standing in one corner can whisper and be heard across the room by someone standing in the opposite corner". The ''New York Times'' called it "the most expensive and elaborate secret society building in the United States".

The flanking residential halls are now part of