Your Society And the Masons...
 

Just a question - how much do you know about your organization?

How much do you know about your organization and its connection to the FreeMasons?

I know it may be somewhat of a "touchy" question, but hey, it's a legitimate one...

Some people know their society's openness with their connections and/or history with the Freemasons (founders, etc), but some people have no idea...

Can anyone list the only college fraternties listed as Masonic Societies (does not include every organization that had a founder or two who were Masons)? I know which ones, but do you?

This type of thing is very interesting...

And if you know for sure yours is not in some way connected to the Freemasons, if you are at liberty, then what?

ACACIA used to be a young masonic society but has since had it's ties severed, TKE is usually known for an association with the Skull and Cross Bones which itself is a masonic offshoot

BTW...
 

Let me know if this is too touchy by the way...

Re: Your Society And the Masons...
 

APO's Founder, Frank Reed Horton, was a Mason. There is nothing secret about it. He wrote our original ritual. How much it takes from Masonic ones, I don't know. The Founders decided that APO would not be a 'secret organization', in the sense that our rituals would not reveal secret or estoteric things.

I'm not aware of anything in our organization doing a study of our rituals (they have changed over the years) and comparing them to Masonic ones (tho this is something I proposed).

I'm also a member of the Order of the Arrow. While the primary founders were not Masons, they were inspired by the concepts of fraternialism, college fraternities, and church youth fraternal groups. The person they asked to create the initial ritual was a mason, however. In the OA, there are some who have made a detailed stuff of our rituals and compared them to masonic ones and found some similiarities.

Hope this helps

Just convo...
 

Just for conversation sake... I'm pretty aware of nationals with a link or two...

Just wondering if its something most of you think of every now and again...

Re: Just convo...
 

As someone who is interested in the history and development of some of the organizations I'm involved in, yes its something I think of. By learning more about some of the influences of the founders, one can get a better appreciate of some of the things that lead to the establishment of our organizations. As I mentioned, with one organization I'm involved in (OA), there are members who have recently delved into the early history/establishment of our org, which gives on a better appreciation of our organization. I was at a recent state conference, and we had a couple of workshops on the history of 2 of our rituals. These were both well attended and I think most went away with a better appreciation and understanding of our history.

The influence of Freemasonry on Greek-letter fraternities is ubiquitous! All anyone has to do is read Duncan's Ritual (of Freemasonry,if you aren't already a Mason!) and compare them to your own ritual. What you'll probably find are common themes.linguistic allusions, common structural elements and in some cases the wholesale taking over of certain ritualistic elements verbatim. I would venture to say that an overwhelming majority of GLO's rituals have some association or derivation at some level with Freemasonry, or through the other fraternal organizations which were an offshoot of them, like the Oddfellows, Knights of Pythias,etc.

"Que Psi Phi 'til the day I die!"

yep...
 

A lot are modeled after...

We all know the idea of "freemasonry" is from which most societes model or pattern their material after... It's more of an inspiration so to speak for them...

However, my question was do you know of an ACTUAL link or connection to the MASONS and or prominent offshoots?

Darlinglilred is on the right track... ACACIA is a good example... They were a fraternity founded by and were originally EXCLUSIVE to Masons only...

On the right track...

Sigma Mu Sigma was founded solely by master masons

Masons who were members of the Yale Masonic Club were instrumental in reestablishing Alpha Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi in 1907; from 1874 to 1907 only Delta chapter at Marietta College in Ohio carried the traditions of the fraternity.

When it was originally founded, Acacia required its members to have taken the Masonic obligations (assuming that meant full membership as a Master Mason). That requirement was later dropped, though some Masonic lodges still have close ties with Acacia chapters today.

In the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, there are two lodges that cater to fraternity members: Magnolia Lodge #53, for members of Kappa Alpha Order and Fraternity Lodge #54, for all undergraduate and alumni members of socia and professional fraternities.

Zeta Psi
 

I know that a couple of the Zeta Psi original founders were masons, and that our ritual is supposed to contain similar aspects to the Masons.. This is all what I have heard. Coudn't tell you as I do not know any Masons and would even begin to disuss our rituals with anybody.
Aside from that I'm not aware of any other major connections, aside from some very prominant members belonging to both organizations.

Re: yep...
 

So, you aren't talking about the many fraternities that were founded by Masons nor are you talking about the adoption of rituals and other aspects....

Since I know the most about NPHC organizations, I can not think of any that were exclusively for members of the Masonic Order.

my mistake...
 

my mistake... Founding by counts...

The difference is that some were only influenced by, but not actually founded by them...

As passed on to me by a Fraternity Member of another Greek Organization, while not all Orgaizations were helped to be founded by Masons, most were probably started by Members of Free Masonary or Jr. groups.

Ergo, it would be presumed that they patterend thier Rituals after something that they knew of.

Remember, Free Masonary does go back a few years!:cool:

The following is from www.delts.org -- Visitors -- History of DTD...

"William R. Cunningham, 25, was only a freshman at the time Delta Tau Delta was formed. Because he was older and had become a Mason, however, he exerted much influence in the group. Cunningham, the picture of integrity, was probably responsible for much of the early language in both the Constitution and Ritual. He served as President of the Karnea in 1883. He was also a minister and held public office in the state of Washington."

While it does not specifically say so, it is generally inferred that much of the Delt Ritual has its roots in Masonic tradition.

Inquiry about Cunningham?
 

Didn't Cunningham have a grandson named Richie?

That's what i'm talking about...
 

That's the kinda stuff i'm talking about... :)

Sometime they don't make it so obvious...

But yes, DTD would be a good example of being directly influenced by a Mason...

TRIVIA - who can list the ONLY college based fraternities that are classified as "Masonic Fraternities"... ? Hint: It can be found in old books about the history of fraternities (Cyclopedia of Fraternities and such)... A few were mentioned already...

Acacia is a college based fraternity that is/was classified as a "Masonic Fraternity"

Very good...
 

Very good Whittle! That's one...

A few others were named - which ones are they?

And which other ones (including ones not as active today)?

Its my understanding that dke was an offshoot of skull and bones from yale, not tke. both were founded there and share members.

I have heard that SigEp was founded by 3 masons... I think thats the one?

Nope...
 

Nope... gotta check out old fraternity literature...

[slight hijack]

Alpha Sigma Phi was founded as a sophomore class society at Yale; from its founding in 1845 to its initial demise in 1864 it groomed men for selection to either Deke or Psi Upsilon, both were junior-class societies at the time. (It was not unusual for a Yale man to belong to four different societies which are now national in scope during their college years.)

In 1864, Alpha Sigma Phi was shut down and two rival societies sprang up claiming they were the legitimate successor. Delta Beta Xi was composed of men pledged to Deke their junior year, while Phi Theta Psi claimed men pledged to join Psi Upsilon. Of the two, Delta Beta Xi preserved the ritual and traditions of Alpha Sigma Phi, changing to 'Delta Beta Xi' where Alpha Sigma Phi once was. Delta Beta Xi continued until 1874, when it was shut down by the Yale administration.

In 1860, Alpha Sigma Phi chartered a chapter at Marietta College in Ohio; after Delta Beta Xi closed down at Yale, Delta Chapter at Marietta was the sole remaining chapter, and kept the fraternity alive until 1907, when Delta revived Alpha at Yale.

Wasn't Kappa Sigma founded by masons?

One of the founders of Kappa Sigma was a Master Mason at the time of its founding in 1869.

The site below has some very interesting historical information about fraternities from a Masonic perspective.


A Fraternal History of Marin County California - Greek Letter Fraternities

I had found that sight too while trying to find the answers to this d**n riddle!

nice site...
 

nice site... but it left a few out... ;)

There are some nice references to the old fraternity literature though...

there are some key ones ... both active and inactive...

Good site though ... i have seen that one too...

That site is actually one of the references that I used to get my info on the connection with Zea Psi.

Thanks for posting that. I had an outdated URL for that site -- glad to see it's still around.

Although Freemasons don't actively recruit, this article introduces the idea of grooming fraternity men to join a Lodge.

Masonry and the College Fraternity