M.D., and Professor Kate K. Gilhuly ’86 of the Wellesley College Classics Department.
Finally, I would like to thank all the brother Eclectics who responded to my pleas for input to this history and particularly Somerville (“Spud”) Parker (1956) and David Potts (1960), University Historian, who reviewed the prose and offered suggestions for changes or additions. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife, Janet Cline-Moody, who contributed her editorial skills to the effort and put up with my long stretches at the computer and occasional absences in Middletown. Without their help and encouragement, this volume would never have been completed.
William B. B. Moody (1959)
Bethesda, Maryland
GLOSSARY
| Agogus | An officiant at initiations (Gr. “One whoaccompanies”) |
| Alpha Chapter | The chapter at Wesleyan |
| Alpha Club | The dining club of the Fraternity |
| Appointments | Schedule of members assigned to participatein literary exercises at regular meetings |
| AR | Alumni Record, published every ten yearsthrough 1980 |
| Beta Chapter | The chapter at OhioWesleyan (1848–60) |
| B.L.G. | Bare Legged Goddess, an informal organization of juniors and seniors dedicated to harassing sophomores, abolished in 1914. |
| B.O.D. | Board of Directors of the Socratic Literary Society consisting of resident Socrats charged with handling day-to-day matters and headed by a Chairman |
| Charter Gag | A preinitiation event that was as close to hazing as anything at Eclectic was in the 1950s (see chapter 13) |
| Choragus | Song leader (Gr. “Choral leader) |
| Delegation | Members of the same class within the Fraternity |
| Dicastes | An officiant at initiations (Gr. “Judge or juror”) |
| Eclectic | Name of the Fraternity in common parlance,also “Phi Nu Theta” |
| Eclectic Hall | Formal name of the meeting room |
| Eclectic Repository | Collected and bound volumes of writingsthat formed part of literary exercises |
| Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta | Formal name of the Fraternity |
| Elephant Room | Common name of the waiters’ dining room |
| Epistoleus | Corresponding secretary and equivalent ofthe president of the Society, elected in earlierdays for a term and in later days for a year(Gr. “Secretary”) |
| Gamma Chapter | The chapter at Dickinson (May–July 1852) |
| Goat Room | Eclectic Hall at 200 High Street in commonparlance from at least 1911 |
| Gr. | Greek (i.e., from the classical Greek) |
| Grammateus | Secretary responsible for taking minutes atmeetings and acting as parliamentarian(Gr. “Secretary or registrar”) |
| Guttering | The forceful expulsion of a member from thedining hall for some egregious violation ofdecorum (e.g., getting pinned). Carried out byfreshmen who would deposit the offender inthe gutter outside the House or naked in thefireplace (earlier days) or in a cold shower on the second floor (latter days—until 1960) |
| Kerux | An officiant at initiations (Gr. “Herald, crier,or messenger”) |
| Myontes | An officiant at initiations (Gr. “Mystic orcontemplator”) |
| n | Nongraduate, e.g., “A. B. Smith (1879n)” —in the class of 1879, but did not graduate with the class |
| Phi Nu Theta | Name of the Fraternity in common parlance,also “Eclectic” |
| Proedros | Presiding officer at regular meetings and in the dining hall, rotated among seniors on a weekly basis (Gr. “President or one who sits in the first place”) |
| Quadrennial | Public literary exercises conducted by fourfraternities in rotation at graduation time(mid–nineteenth century) |
| Quinquecennial | Successor to the Quadrennial literary exercises and so named because the rotation was among five fraternities; abolished in 1892 |
| SATC | Student Army Training Corps, an organization including nearly all able-bodiedundergraduates, formed in October 1918 to further the World War I effort |
| SLS | Socratic Literary Society, the graduate arm ofEclectic, formally chartered by the State ofConnecticut in 1870 |
| Socrats | Name of the Socratic Literary Society and/or its members in common parlance |
| Sub rosa | Dinner or other function conducted in silence(originally referred to something kept private or secret, but modified by use at Eclectic) |
| Thesaurophylax | Treasurer (Gr. “Guardian of the treasury”) |
| Thyronus | An officiant at initiations (Gr. “Doorkeeper”) |
CHAPTER 1
THE FOUNDING OF
THE ECLECTIC SOCIETY OF
PHI NU THETA
October 1837 was traditionally celebrated by Eclectics as the time of founding of the Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta, the first fraternity at Wesleyan University to maintain continuous existence as a four-year fraternity. Like many other historical events important to succeeding generations, the exact details of the founding are shrouded in uncertainty. Indeed, the official recognition of its existence by the faculty and its adoption of the name “Eclectic”1 probably did not take place until 1838, although the society seems certainly to have been in existence as a less formal organization during the previous year.
It is unfortunate that the formal records of the Society do not run back quite to its actual founding and that the early history was not carefully written up while its founders were still alive. There are, however, a half dozen sources that can serve as a basis for informed conjecture. Professor Morris B. Crawford (1874) probably knew more about the fraternity than another person living when Eric North (1909) and Paul North Rice (1910) compiled their manuscript history of the early years in preparation for the 1937 Centennial. Professor William North Rice (1865) edited the first directory and expressed at various times his convictions as to the founding of the fraternity. Judge George G. Reynolds (1841), at the request of Professor Crawford, put in writing in June 1903 certain recollections of his about the early history of Eclectic. A month earlier, in May 1903, the Reverend Willard M. Rice (1837), one of the founders, had made certain statements for the record concerning the origins of the Society, which were written down in the presence of Cyrus D. Foss (1854), president of the university 1875–80. A letter from H. M. Johnson (1839) dated December 24, 1840, also bears on the question, as do letters from Jonathan Coe (1839) and Charles Collins (1837).
The dictated statement of Dr. Willard Rice is of significance, as it came from one of the founders. In part he said:
The Eclectic Society had its origin in an informal meeting of four members of the Class of 1837—Aaron H. Hurd, Charles Collins, Daniel Curry and Willard M. Rice…. Each of the persons mentioned above matriculated at Wesleyan in 1835…. During the fall and winter of 1835–36, we were in the habit of meeting together in each other’s rooms—first, for the purpose of assisting each other in matters connected with our regular college studies and, secondly, for other literary work. There were also social features connected with these meetings, which ordinarily were held on Saturday evenings.
There were other students in the classes of 1835, 1836, 1837, and 1838 who were accustomed to meet occasionally with us…. The meetings which I have mentioned continued to be held during my senior year.
In March, 1837, Mr. Collins and myself were examined by the Faculty and by a “Committee for Graduation” — the Class graduating in August, 1837—in order that Mr. Collins, who had been elected Principal of the Augusta High School, Augusta, Maine, and myself, who had been elected Teacher of Latin and Greek in the same institution, might at once enter upon the duties of these respective positions.
We left Middletown about the end of March 1837 and took up the work in Augusta. In August we returned to Middletown for the commencement exercises…. During our attendance upon these commencement exercises, Messrs. Collins, Curry and myself were frequently together. One of our number, Curry, I think, suggested that it might be a bond of union in the future between us, the undergraduates and the Institution, if our informal Association took on a more formal character. For the purpose of carrying out this suggestion, conferences were held with the undergraduates who