GC Virtual Tour Book of Fraternity and Sorority Heritage Sites and Landmarks

[MysticCat]

We have threads on badge trends, arms and symbols, chapter houses and headquarters. This thread is a place for us to post pictures of important places in Greek history. I'm thinking of things like places of founding, monuments or memorials commemorating foundings, graves of founders or original chapter rooms or chapter houses. It could also be something like a rock (Sigma Nu?) or a stream that once had a wooden bridge over it (Kappa Kappa Gamma?) -- anything that should be included in our virtual tour book of Greek heritage.

I'll start us out where we should start, the birthplace of the first GLO, Phi Beta Kappa -- the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia. Unfortunately, the original Raleigh Tavern burned in 1859. But with the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg, the Raleigh Tavern was reconstructed as well (in 1932). Here is the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern:





You can make out the bust of Sir Walter Raleigh over the doorway.

And here is the reconstructed Apollo Room, the room at the back of the tavern, in which Phi Beta Kappa was founded:





Over the mantle is written Hilaritas sapientiae et bonae vitae proles -- jollity is the offspring of wisdom and good living.

[victoriana]

Oooh, great idea! I can't wait until I get back to Michigan... I can put up some picture of the house where Alpha Sigma Tau was founded

[PiKA2001]

The Range at UVA. PI Kappa Alpha fraternity was founded in 47 West Range on March 1, 1868. Notable residents of the West Range include Edgar Allen Poe and Woodrow Wilson.


47 West Range is still used as student housing and is occupied and maintained by a 3rd or 4th year member of our Alpha Chapter.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

47 West Range is still used as student housing and is occupied and maintained by a 3rd or 4th year member of our Alpha Chapter.

That is so cool that you can do that.

[AlphaFrog]

The clock at Longwood University that commemorates the founding of the Farmville Four: Alpha Sigma Alpha+Kappa Delta+Sigma Sigma Sigma+Zeta Tau Alpha. It was installed in 2001, after the "newest" of the four (ASA) turned 100.

[Kevin]

This is a marker in Lexington, VA, commemorating the Lexington Triad, Sigma Nu, Alpha Tao Omega and Kappa Alpha Order, all of which were founded in Lexington, VA.



This plaque on the VMI Parade Grounds commemorates the founding of Sigma Nu, which took place on those grounds on an October night in 1868.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This is a marker in Lexington, VA, commemorating the Lexington Triad, Sigma Nu, Alpha Tao Omega and Kappa Alpha Order, all of which were founded in Lexington, VA.

C'mon . . . tell your good story about it.

And don't I remember that all or part of "the rock" is now at Sigma Nu's HQ in Lexington?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

C'mon . . . tell your good story about it.

And don't I remember that all or part of "the rock" is now at Sigma Nu's HQ in Lexington?

A Sigma Nu was in charge of getting agreement from both other organizations as to the final design of the monument. He contacted Kappa Alpha Order and offered him the side closest to their founding school, Washington & Lee. The KA accepted. He then contacted Alpha Tau Omega and gained their approval for having the part of the monument closest to VMI, where they were founded. That left the top portion.



Yes, the Rock stands outside of our HQ. It is a piece of the original rock, a limestone outcropping at which Sigma Nu experienced its spiritual founding on an October night in 1868.

[honeychile]

Here's a picture of the Cannonball House, where both the Adelphean and the Philomathean Societies were founded:



These societies became Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu (the Macon Magnolias).

This is the Adelphean Room:



and this is the Philomathean Room:



To see a picture of the Alpha Delta Pi fountain at Georgia Wesleyan, go to this page. It's too big to post here, and not the best picture of it.

These are located at Georgia Wesleyan College:

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

To see a picture of the Alpha Delta Pi fountain at Georgia Wesleyan, go to this page. It's too big to post here, and not the best picture of it.[/IMG]

How's this?




And this:

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

How's this?




And this:

Thank you! Actually, the fountain's spray (plume? I don't know what it's called) is taller. Must be that pesky global warming!

[pshsx1]

Should we have some way to organize this thread? Otherwise, we might end up having a giant train of random quoting and conversation. Maybe a few posts that contain everything and is edited by one person and then the rest of the thread is someone dropping what they know--kind of like the closings/expansions thread. Just a thought?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by pshsx1

Should we have some way to organize this thread? Otherwise, we might end up having a giant train of random quoting and conversation. Maybe a few posts that contain everything and is edited by one person and then the rest of the thread is someone dropping what they know--kind of like the closings/expansions thread. Just a thought?

Well, if you've got a plan for doing that, go for it. But I don't see how this thread will be any more disorganized or random than the badge trends thread, the arms and symbols thread, the HQ thread, the houses thread or other similar threads.

Personally, I think it's more fun and in keeping with the usually terribly disorganized GC ethos to let people post things about their own orgs and let the thread grow instead of trying to have a few master posts. It'll still turn into a train.

[pshsx1]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Well, if you've got a plan for doing that, go for it. But I don't see how this thread will be any more disorganized or random than the badge trends thread, the arms and symbols thread, the HQ thread, the houses thread or other similar threads.

Personally, I think it's more fun and in keeping with the usually terribly disorganized GC ethos to let people post things about their own orgs and let the thread grow instead of trying to have a few master posts. It'll still turn into a train.

Good plan!

I'll happily post about SigEp in a month or two once the Founders' Walk is completed in Richmond. It ought to be awesome.

[MysticCat]

I have an urge to bump this thread.

Sinfonia was founded at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1898. At the time, NEC occupied the former St. James Hotel on Franklin Square in Boston’s South End.




A chapter room was provided for the new fraternity in the basement of the building; I have read that the room had been the barbershop of the St. James. Here is the original Alpha Chapter Room.

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In 1903 or so, the Conservatory moved to its current location on Gainsborough Street in Boston. Again, a room was provided for Alpha Chapter. Here’s a picture of that room from the 1948-49 academic year:




Unfortunately, the Alpha Chapter eventually went inactive after the Conservatory took the room over for administrative uses. Various items from the room are now at Lyrecrest, our Fraternity headquarters. We can no longer visit the sites of either chapter room, but we can at least go to Franklin Square and see the place where we were founded.


Fun aside: GCers around my age or older may remember the (really awesome) television show St. Elsewhere from the 1980s. The old NEC, which still stands on Franklin Square in Boston, served as the exterior of the show’s St. Eligius Hospital. You can see it in the opening theme from the show here. (From Season 3 -- check the cast.)

Coincidentally, the music for the opening was written by Dave Grusin, a 1953 initiate of our Beta Chi Chapter at the University of Colorado.