re: Nov 1909

In my Paed, it says "Nov 1909 was selected as the founding
date, though COLE later stated the date had NO SIGNIFICANCE"

More than likely it was a date Cole "made up" to have a
"founding date" since there isn't an obvious one....later a
more mature Cole admitted there was no true significance
to the date.

And in my Paed, it says the name "LXA" was first listed
in the minutes of AZ in 1910, not 1909....but of course
the name might be mentioned in the made-up minutes of
the made-up meeting that occured in 1909 ;)

In truth, LXA existed in the mind of Cole BEFORE AZ
became "involved".

Read this document:

LXA Ritual and Symbol history

From page 21 on, it has some reallly interesting info on how some things such as the badge, the coat of arms, etc. got developed.

It explains how "LCA" used to stand for "Loyal College Associates" and the roles of the founding members.

I'm telling you guys, I still think Gamma Zeta was the first chapter. The one date that we do know of for sure is the GZ founding date. However, we're not even sure if Alpha Zeta really even existed before GZ. I still believe Cole simply made everything up at Boston U. simply to trick the Umass guys into establishing a colony. Just my thoughts.

You guys are still going by what others have said, including Cole in later life. Some of them had agendas and others have possibly perpetuated the slanting of facts resulting in the "urban legends" we seem to be dealing with here.

I want to know why. Why are the words "fictitious" and "apochryphal" being applied to the first members? Who started all this?

The meeting minutes from Nov. 2, 1909 exist! I have a photograph of them. Maybe docroc doesn't fancy himself a handwriting expert, but it shouldn't be THAT hard to tell if Cole wrote them or Percival Morse - or someone else.

I don't have much faith in what others have just repeated over the years (including the Paedagogus). Why don't we figure it out ourselves and settle it once and for all?

ZAX,
Jono

Alpha Zeta, November, 1909 Minutes
 

Brother Jono,

Sorry for my slow response. I have been sick and am now getting back on track.

I checked out the "Minutes Book" page found in the Expositor. I then looked through my copy of the Lambda Chi Alpha 1909-1929 History Book (actually published in 1930) that was the actual copy owned by Warren A. Cole to see if any of his writing matched that of the "Minutes Book" page. Two things: 1.) I believe that its handwriting clearly matches his writing style and form and 2.) I found the same "Minute Book" page reproduced on page 5 of the History Book with one BIG addition. The caption for the "Minutes Book" page in the History Book reads as follows:

Pages from Minute Book of Alpha at Boston for November, 1909

While these minutes are signed by Percival C. Morse as secretary, many early members will recognize the writing as that of Warren A. Cole.

As was W.A. Cole's habit he underlined the words"...recognize the writing of Warren A. Cole." He often did this to mark words, sections, or even whole paragraphs that caught his attention. He usually used marks like "!" or "?" when he disagreed or was upset with the statements he was highlighting. I find it interesting that he did not use any such mark in this case. This leaves me to believe that he did not question what was written about the originator of the handwriting.

So, I believe that Warren A. Cole did write the minutes and attributed them to a "Percival C. Morse."

As to the fictious nature of P.C. Morse, maybe someone can do a little Boston University search to see if their ever was a student by that name entered into thier Law School.

All mighty interesting to me! Stay tuned....

Yours in ZAX,

Mike R., Z-U Zeta

Wow! That is astounding. Good work there! So I guess that settles it, at least for Morse and the meeting.

Sorry to hear you were sick but am glad you're feeling better.

ZAX,
Jono