Dartmouth Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa

NEW HAMPSHIRE ALPHA FOURTH OLDEST IN THE COUNTRY,WILL CELEBRATE 150th ANNIVERSARY ON OCTOBER 11

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, chartered in 1769, is now in its 168 th year. Of the subordinate organizations connected with the institution, which have maintained a continuous existence since the date of their establishment, by far the oldest is the New Hampshire Alpha of Phi Beta Kappa, which this year celebrates its 150 th anniversary.

Under the stern paternal rule of the elder Wheelock student societies did not exist. With his son, John, in power, or perhaps during the absence of that President when the mild Bezaleel Woodward was in control, fraternal organizations, modeled upon those already in existence at Yale, were instituted: first the Social Friends, founded in 1783, and then the United Fraternity, which dates from 1786. These societies admitted men from each of the College classes; their main purpose was stated to be the encouragement of "literary proficiency" in composition and debate; they held meetings weekly in which pro- grams of a literary nature were carried out; they were of great service in assembling libraries which soon surpassed the College collection both in extent and interest; and, most of all, they afforded opportunity, warmly welcomed by the undergraduate, then as now, for heated rivalry, dissension and dispute within their own ranks. So long as this rivalry was allowed to continue unchecked these societies were effective and sturdy organizations. But to complement them the field seemed open to a fraternity of a different kind, and to fill that gap the New Hampshire Alpha of Phi Beta Kappa was instituted in 1787.

This fraternity, the first of the Greek letter organizations, was founded at the College of William and Mary in 1776. Its purpose was the "encouragement of friendship, morality and literature" and it had as its motto the Greek phrase meaning "philosophy the helmsman of life." Fanciful attempts to trace its origin to an organization in the University of Oxford in the time of James 11, suppressed by that monarch for political reasons, have the same validity as similar claims to antiquity commonly put forth by secret orders. Through the efforts of Elisha Parmalee, a graduate of Harvard and a former student at Yale, then doing advanced work at William and Mary, chapters were founded by the parent organization first at Yale in 1780 and then at Harvard in 1781. Shortly after this time the chapter at William and Mary became inactive, and the New England chapters were left alone.

The establishment of the fourth branch, the New Hampshire Alpha, was due solely to the energetic efforts of Aaron Kinsman Jr., of the Dartmouth class of 1787. He was a resident of Hanover, the son of Col. Aaron Kinsman who was soon to establish the first college commons. The young man apparently visited Cambridge in the spring of 1787 and must have been initiated into the Harvard chapter, for on June 21 of that year a charter was granted by that organization to "Brother" Kinsman authorizing him to establish a chapter at the "University at Hanover," and permitting him to induct into it as members whomsoever he saw fit. The permission, however, was conditioned upon the ratification of the charter by the chapter at Yale, a formality which was fulfilled on August 14. Thus the establishment of the fourth chapter of the fraternity was completed. It was to be the last for thirty years.

The initial meeting of the new organization was held at Hanover on August 20, 1787. Kinsman invited four of his

classmates, Simon Backus, Ebenezer Brown, Jonas Hartwell and Peirson Thurston to join him. These men were initiated at this first meeting, by-laws were adopted and officers elected. The period was the Commencement season (then held late in August) and so, in subsequent meetings 011 August 25 and September 3, permanence was secured by the admission of J. Lyndon Arnold, Daniel Chipman, Silvanus Backus, Daniel Dana and Alvan Hyde of the incoming senior class of 1788. At once the practice of admitting alumni members was established with the election of John Hubbard,' 1785, Moses Fisk, 1786, and Elihu Palmer, 1787. Kinsman became the first president and continued in office through the following year, but Brown, the first secretary, evidently not to be in Hanover, held his position but a week and was succeeded by Daniel Dana.

LITERARY BEGINNINGS

The first record book of the Alpha opens with a copy of the charter awarded by the Harvard chapter and the assent given by-Yale. Then comes the form of initiation common to all the chapters in which, for Dartmouth, the expression "You solemnly call the Supreme Being to witness" was later changed to "You solemnly and sincerely declare," and the conclusion, "So help you God" was stricken out entirely: perhaps an indication of the so-called irreligious spirit of the first decade of the nineteenth century. A cipher for the private interchange of communications was included, probably never to be used. The by-laws for the local chapter set up the usual officers and, in addition, a "Judge of Composition" who was "to receive all written performances and at the next meeting to make observation on the same, either in commendation or censure. When he shall judge a composition worthy to be preserved, he shall report accordingly that the Society may order it to be lodged in the Archives for the perusal and benefit of succeeding members." Alas, the archives cannot have been properly guarded for none of these "compositions" exist and we, the "succeeding members" are deprived of the "benefit of their perusal." Once a fort- night meetings were to be held in which four members, in rotation, two of them in written and two in extempore discussion, were required to consider the question of the day. Failure to respond to this duty resulted in a fine of three shillings, while neglect of attendance by other members was assessed at 1/6. Candidates for admission from the junior class were to be considered during the period from July 1 to Commencement. On the day set for elections each member was to present a "catalogue" of the candidates whom he favored. Those whose names were found on all the "catalogues" were considered as elected without further formality; for the choice of others, ballots, resulting eventually in unanimous consent, were required. Membership was restricted to one-third of the class. An "exhibition," later termed an "anniversary," was appointed for Commencement, when an orator of the society and, if possible, a poet should add their voices to the orgy of oratory at that time characteristic of the festive period.

CHOICE OF "B. M. O. C."

In essence, the society provided a type of distinction for the members of the student body different from any other then existing, and based on actual undergraduate achievement. It was somewhat similar to that coming from election to the senior societies of the present time. No admission requirement of high scholarship was made, but the choice was limited obviously to the eighteenth-century equivalent of the "bigman-on-campus," and in that benighted period the only effective way to attain such "bigness" was to be a good student. So, from the very start, the society had the connotation of scholarship which prevails in it today. In addition to that, its meetings enabled a select group of seniors to come together at set times for the discussion of prepared papers and for extemporaneous debate; exercises much in favor at the time and for which the College curriculum afforded slight opportunity.

CAREERS OF MEMBERS

The members of the organizing group, named above, in their subsequent lives on the whole justified their selection as the first members of this distinguished society, although it is true that of some of them it can only be said that they led the useful but non-spectacular lives which are the lot of the greater number of the graduates of our colleges. The roll is as follows. Simon Backus was killed in a sleighing accident the year following his graduation, thus pointing the moral that the public highway was not entirely without risks even in the "horse and buggy period." Peirson Thurston and Jonas Hartwell were country ministers, faithful in their work, it may be, but not distinguished. Aaron Kinsman was a physician in Portland, Maine, where, according to the statement of the rather uncritical annalist of the College, "his rank in the profession was distinguished." Ebenezer Brown, lawyer, was judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Connecticut. Moses Fisk, for a time tutor in the College and editor, later moved to Tennessee, where he was active as a teacher, preacher, and magistrate. Several of his discourses were published. J. Lyndon Arnold studied law but never practised; he was one of the original settlers of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where he exercised in leisure his "fine literary taste." A book of poems from his pen was published after his death. John Hubbard, lawyer and teacher, was judge of probate in New Hampshire and finally, from 1804 until his death in 1810, professor of mathematics in Dartmouth College. Silvanus Backus, lawyer, was states attorney in Connecticut and a member of Congress. Daniel Chipman, a leading lawyer in Vermont, author of law texts and reports, for a number of terms a member of the legislature and its speaker, also became a member of Congress. He published a number of biographies of Vermont worthies and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws by Middlebury College. Alvan Hyde was a leading clergyman of his day in Massachusetts, Doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth, publisher of many sermons and for twenty-one years vice-president of Williams College. Daniel Dana, even more distinguished in theology, likewise a Doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth, had the distinction of serving as President of the College for the shortest term on record, his nervous system not permitting the continuance of such responsibility for a longer period than one year. In the nature of events there would have to be a black sheep in the group—at least in his time he was so regarded. Elihu Palmer, after studying theology, "renounced all faith in Christ and became a Deist," a belief "which he never ceased to advocate publicly." He was engaged in literary and editorial work in New York and Philadelphia. Dr. Chapman, the strictly orthodox biographer of the men of the early classes, sadly remarks of his career, "What a falling off was this!!"

The progress of the society in its early days, while reasonably satisfactory, was not without its periods of contention. At various times in the nineties of the seventeenth century the feeling among certain of the undergraduates against all secret societies rose to fever heat and riotous demonstrations were made against those organizations. During one of these periods the Social Friends lost their constitution and records, while the United Fraternity was saved from a similar disaster only by the adroit work of the secretary. The books of Phi Beta Kappa met no such fate and have come down to us intact, but under the date of July 25, 1789, occurs the humble confession of Jacob Smith, Uriel Chapman, and Nathan Lakeman, members of the class of 1790 and not members of the fraternity, that they had broken open the chest containing the records, that they had copied the constitution and caused it to be published both at Hanover and Cambridge, and likewise had copied various other papers. They solemnly promised that they would reveal the secrets which they had thus acquired no further than they had already done.

FRATERNAL DISCORD

Phi Beta Kappa, as the most aristocratic of the fraternities, was the most subject to attack and debates were held by the regular organizations on the question of the value of the society to the College, regarded by many, apparently, as extremely dubious. Moreover there was dissension in the organization itself. Composed as it was of members of both the regular fraternities, violent disagreements in the selection of new members were common, as well as other jealousies. Frequently the organization was almost disrupted by these quarrels. Thus on March 25, 1799, it was voted that juniors should be elected at that time instead of waiting until the usual period "because of the small number of members in the senior class arising-from a combination against the Society and the probability of a collision within the junior class before the usual time of admittance." In 1800 the contention was even more violent. On April 24 "the Alpha convened and, the time having arrived, The Society proceeded to attempt the election of candidates for its honors from the junior class. But unhappily, after much desultory debate, party spirit which appeared to have had its origin in local prejudices, had such an effect that the approbation of the Alpha was not held out to anyone." Four subsequent meetings were equally devoid of result "on account of the clashing of imaginary interests and sentiments." It appeared that the disagreement was to be permanent, that no choice could be made, when finally a compromise was reached at the sixth meeting and nine men were elected. Thus narrowly escaped rejection a "brother" of whom the whole fraternity has ever since boasted, Daniel Webster. In 1803 nine members demanded and received dismissal, only to have seven of them return at the next meeting. In 1811 there was a "great quarrel" over the election of additional seniors, no one of them having a unanimous vote. The records say that this was a "mortifying result" and severe censure was registered by the secretary against the unknown person who caused the dif. ficulty.

But these disturbances were no more than were to be expected of the organization as it was. In general, the course of the society was reasonably smooth. Its meetings seem to have been held regularly although, at this period, the records are silent concerning the debates and discussions which constituted the regular programs. In 1798 a tax of $2.00 was voted for each member for the purchase of books, curiously enough, for a classical society, in Natural History, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. In 1804 an abortive effort was made to publish a "Literary Miscellany" in connection with the Harvard chapter. In 1827 and for many subsequent years the Society contributed toward meeting the expenses of music during Commencement. In the dark days of the Dartmouth College controversy the Alpha steadily maintained its allegiance to the College interest and no University member was admitted to its ranks. Each Commencement was marked by an oration provided by the society, under the condition, however, that an orator could be secured. Apparently the only reward offered was the glory of the occasion and the records of the society in normal years are marked by a series of declinations of its invitations to deliver an address. Most of the speakers finally secured were clergymen of local prominence, but now forgotten. However so effective a speaker as Daniel Webster was the orator in 1805 and in 1823, after encountering successive rejections from three men who, on a diminishing scale, the society really wanted, it was compelled to take refuge at the last moment in one who could really be obtained. The fourth choice turned out to be Rufus Choate, at that time but four years out of Dartmouth. It was also deemed desirable that a poem should be a part of the program, but poets were even shyer than orators and few could be secured.

The two regular fraternities began to decline after 1814 as a result of the action of the faculty in requiring them to choose new members alternately from the alphabetical list of the freshman class; a policy which was made more stringent in 1825. Competition being thus removed, interest declined. Interest in Phi Beta Kappa during the twenties was likewise at a low ebb, but was considerably revived during the thirties by the efforts of two successive Presidents of great activity, Professors Hale and Haddock, who inspired the members with some of their own boundless enthusiasm. While even then the meetings were adjourned far too often because of the absence of the speakers or their lack ot preparation, or because of failure of a quorum, the records, now more detailed, indicate at times much enthusiasm and show that the organization was serving a useful purpose as a debating society. Thus on one occasion when the question was, "Are. the embarrassments of literary men favorable to their success?," the secretary records, "The debate was protracted to an unusual length but not having been pushed 'to the last dull squeezing of the brain' it was interesting throughout. Professor Haddock gave a very elegant decision in the negative." But this enthusiasm waned with the replacement of Professor Haddock in the presidential chair and in the forties a final blow was given to the society as an undergraduate organization, as well as to the two regular fraternities, by the formation of the present Greek letter societies.

NON-COMPETITIVE SYSTEM

Unlike the Social Friends and the United Fraternity, however, Phi Beta Kappa was saved by a curious condition in the College. President Lord was opposed to the competitive principle in undergraduate life: he looked with disfavor upon marks, prizes, honors, every indication of scholastic excellence, as unchristian in spirit. He had induced the trustees to impose a non-competitive system upon the College, but one which was regarded with disfavor by the faculty and with rising indignation by the student body. Phi Beta Kappa was not under the jurisdiction of the trustees; it could, therefore, proceed as it liked without regard to the President. Moreover marks evidently were kept by the faculty, although they were not revealed to the student, and elections to the society could thus be made an indirect indication of the scholastic excellence of the undergraduates, obtainable in no other way. At the annual meeting in 1845 the society ruled out undergraduate members by the vote that all elections henceforth should be made from the senior class just upon the point of graduation. In 1846 it was further voted that the order of nominations should be in accordance with the merit roll of the faculty for the whole college course, and should comprise the first third of the class. It was true, of course, that nomination was not equivalent to election, and that a person in this first third might be excluded by a certain number of negative ballots, that number, by a set system, depending upon the total vote cast. So, in the class of 1847, names were presented as in the first third in scholastic rank. Of these the society elected the first nine and numbers is and 15, the remainder being excluded. But at the same meeting it was voted that in the future, if a candidate should be barely excluded by negative votes, then the objectors must state the reasons for their action. After such statement was made another ballot should be taken, and if two-thirds of those voting were in favor of the candidate, he should be elected. As it was nearly always impossible to muster against a candidate onethird of those voting, the system really came to mean that the whole upper third of the class was admitted. Only once did this process fail. In the class of 1878 two men in the upper third were denied admission. They were, however, elected after a lapse of ten years.

THE MODERN RULES

The function of the society thus became a reward for scholarship, as indicated by college marks. From this time on, for many years, only one meeting was held during the year—that of Commencement. The society still continued to be responsible for an orator, at first on alternate years, afterwards at every third Commencement. The centennial of the Alpha was celebrated in 1887 with an historical address by Frederick Chase and an oration by Governor Hoadley of Ohio. In 1896 the attention of the society was called to the fact that a considerable number of men were numbered in the first third of the class whose grades were below 85% required of those from whom the Commencement speakers were chosen. That unfortunate situation was remedied at the annual meeting of that year by the requirement that not only must the candidate be in the first third of the class, but must also have attained the grade of 85%, the marks of the last two years, however, being weighted more heavily than those of the first two in making up the final figure. In 1899 provision was made for men of a certain rank to be admitted at the end of junior year, that once again the society might have undergraduate members. For some reason not now clear this provision was not put into effect until 1909.

Beginning with 1909 efforts were made to add to the attractiveness of the society by associating the initiation with some public function of the College—Honors Night, the opening exercises of the year, or Dartmouth Night. This profcess seems to have been based 011 false psychology and did not prove effective. More successful for a.time were meetings through the year, usually with refreshments, at which some pertinent topic was discussed or some speaker heard. In 1913 elections for each class began to be made at three separate periods; the first group, of highest rank, being chosen at the beginning of senior year; the second, at the middle of the year; and the third at its end. This system still prevails. In 1925 the time of the annual meeting was changed fromthor- mencement to March and the administration of the affairs of the chapter was defi. nitely placed in the hands of those members resident in Hanover, others being accorded full voting rights but the obligation of notifying them of meetings being removed. Finally, in 1932 the grades required for admission were somewhat raised with the purpose of limiting selections, over a period of years, to the upper 10% of the class.

Such is the present status of the society. Annually it meets, soon after the opening of College, for the admission of the upper grade of seniors. This meeting may or may not include a general program. In March the annual meeting is held, the second group is initiated and the event celebrated either by a dinner or by a public meeting at which some distinguished visitor is heard. The third meeting at Commencement for the initiation of the final group is usually brief owing to the crowded condition of the Commencement program. In connection with the work of the Alpha mention of the services of Harold G. Rugg 'O6, secretary for the last twenty-seven years (a longer period than that served by any other officer of the society in all its history) should not be omitted. To all intents and purposes he is Phi Beta Kappa in Hanover.

In brief outline this is the story of New Hampshire Alpha in the past. As for the future we can do no better than to repeat the aspirations expressed by Frederick Chase at the conclusion of his historical address in 1887. "Let us hope that the annalist at the next centennial may be able to describe for the Society a still expanding influence and an equally honorable record."

THE OFFICIAL SEALOf the Alpha of New Hampshire.

AN EARLY KEY The Phi Beta Kappa medal belonging toJoseph Goffe, 1791, one of the earliestknown.

RECORDS MADE BY DANIEL WEBSTER, 1801, AS SECRETARY PRO TEMPORE