History of your chapter

[Coramoor]

I've been thinking about compiling the 106yr history of my chapter, however I'm looking for some suggestions on how to go about it.

Our advisor works for the school, so I can get free mailing. My first idea is to just write a basic letter detailing what I want to do and then send it out to alum and wait for responses.

I really don't know if nationals has much information on individual chapters to do research on...

Has anyone elses chapters done this?

After I was done, I was going to try and sell it to alum as a fundraiser for the chapter housing fund.

[Betarulz!]

The one thing the GF would be able to help with is to pull any documents together about your chapter. They did that for us, and we got a random assortment of letters and chapter visit reports, along with some of the early documentation of our founding. Wasn't as much as I thought it might be, and a lot of it was hard to put into context, as far as what items were being discussed. That made it confusing and difficult to tell if there was anything significant going on.

Also, the GF would have all the issues of The Beta Theta Pi, so you could see what all was sent in by the chapter itself in the chapter reports.

The other thing, is see if you can get access to any old yearbooks from your University. I know here that Greek Affairs has a lot of yearbooks through the years (even though one is no longer published). Maybe the library or - if your school still publishes one - the yearbook or newspaper office might have copies.

There's likely to be an absolute ton of information out there, so it's going be a monumental effort to get one organized, but a task that will probably be far more rewarding than you think it will be. Good luck!

[Coramoor]

I was thinking about looking in The Beta Theta Pi. We have pretty much every issue from 1900 on in our library. The yearbook is definitly a good idea.

Thanks

[RACooper]

Well I'm working on a history book myself...

... and the good sources are:
- old yearbooks
- Chapter newsletters
- Beta Theta Pi's magazines/mailings
- old school newspapers
- chapter specific stuff: scrapbooks, alumni recollections, etc.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

I think the best entries for your book would come from stories from your alumni, by far

[DoctorThursday]

I read this somewhere, and kept a copy laying around, just in case I ever had some free time again. (But I always have so much to do!) I think it was probably from one of the red books...

(start of quote)

There aren't a lot of chapter histories... yet. Probably your chapter is not one of the few listed above. Well, you can get a taste by reading the old chapter letters in past issues of the Beta Theta Pi. If you like it, and want to be a part of your chapter's new history, here's what you do:

If you are an undergraduate: Start keeping a "log book" (a sorority would call it a diary) in which you record things that happen during the semester. Collect witty sayings, or humorous events, or even problems (and, of course, their resolutions). Get your chapter-mates to write letters to their future brothers - this is especially good to do on anniversaries. Collect articles from the school or local newspaper which mention chapter members. Above all, take pictures - or even videos. Ask all visiting alumni to help you by telling you stories of their college experiences. Finally, send copies to Oxford. Don't worry about being "professional." None of Beta's writers have been! But be as accurate and complete as possible, and try to keep careful references.

If you are an alumnus: Record a cassette of your reminiscences of your college days and send it to the chapter (and a copy to Oxford). Write down things you remember; the chapter officers, the room assignments, crazy things that happened. Always send a copy to Oxford and to the chapter. Write to your chapter cronies, and get them to tell you about things they remember - or tape a gab session at your next homecoming: "remember when brother so-and-so did such-and-such..."

The project need not consume your every non-working hour like some Beta writing does. The first thing you should do is make an outline. Just copy this one, which is generic enough for any chapter:

Outline for a Chapter History
1. Beta Theta Pi (background on the fraternity)
2. Your school (local background)
3. Events leading to the granting of the charter, and the installation
4. Narrative history, divided as required by the amount of information
available (or by time span to be covered)
5. Events of local interest
6. The house(s) of the chapter (with pictures)
7. Outlook for the future
Appendices:
a. Entire chapter roll, with biographical notes
b. Chapter officers
c. Outstanding alumni

Fill it in with anything else which comes to mind. Then, collect your reference books (Shep's and Baird's), read them, and make notes. Interview older alumni, and check what the Administrative Office has on file for your chapter. Besides a collection of general correspondence, etc, they also may have old issues of your chapter newsletter, and hard-to-find Beta books. Keep in mind it isn't your writing skill, but your interest and devotion which will make your book useful.

Does this course on chapter-history writing seem out of place? No! Maybe if Shep had told everyone this sixty years ago, there would be a few more chapters with histories. Even if your chapter has one, what about a sequel? By the way, perhaps someone from one (or more) of the Alpha Sigma Chi chapters should develop a volume similar to The Mystics...

(end of quote)

Go for it! I look forward to reading it. One other hint - you might ask and see if any chapter has a history in print - I mean, that you can get a copy of - then you'll have a sample of what can be done.

[ECUJacob]

my chapter's history would be a little easier, because our first chapter was active 1980-1994, and we've been back since 2002. I've always been interested in starting a NC Alumni Association, or maybe compiling our chapter history... but graduate school and two jobs have been keeping me way too busy to tackle any of those.