HISTORICAL VIEWPOINTS
Sitting on shelves in national headquarters, volunteer’s homes, and fraternity and sorority life offices across the nation is a large reference book called “Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities.” This book was once produced with some regularity, resulting in 20 editions between 1879 and 1991. This book was the primary reference for many people who were researching fraternities and sororities. However, the last update occurred in 1991, since then there have been many different changes to the landscape of fraternities and sororities. With the expansion of the internet, and information becoming more accessible online, the publication of the “Bairds Manual of American College Fraternities” has become a relic. Those currently searching for historic references about fraternities and sororities might come across a new online resource, The Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities which is hosted by the Student Life and Culture Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This new online resource aims to follow in the tradition of “Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities.” https://archives.library.illinois. edu/slc/welcome/fraternitysorority-almanac/ Recently Perspectives had the opportunity to speak with Ellen Swain (ES), archivist at the University of Illinois, and Fran Becque (FB), Pi Beta Phi archivist and historian and owner of the website Fraternity History & More (franbecque.com).
