Bro. Elford D. Jackson, P.E.
basic tools required, such that, the average brother can confidently present himself as a Sigma Historian amongst the membership.
STEP 1 Look past the Sigma Light
Are you the Historian for your Chapter? The title by itself holds a very unique persona amongst our brotherhood. If bestowed with the title, one can easily be construed as; old school, sophisticated, intuitively cerebral, and at times three dimensionally brilliant. The average brother dare not call himself a historian for fear of being checked by one whom possesses an aptitude for historical facts about the organization. A historian is defined as one who is concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human understanding, as well as the study of all history in time. So, who
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is qualified to be a historian? Is it limited to those possessing formal graduate training and philosophical experience, or those with a personal link to the history and can utter the statement; “I walked with the Founders at the 1922 Conclave in Baltimore”. For the purpose of simplicity, I would argue for none of the above. I believe that in the true sense of being a historian, one only needs to remember and account for the task(s) they performed yesterday. As yesterday is not the future, nor the present, thus it becomes the past and therefore the catalyst is history. Hence, the purpose of this article is to establish and make available, the
OUR CAUSE • SP2012
Do not be fooled by your in depth and/or lack of knowledge of the Sigma Light. Many Crescents are lured into the false security that the Sigma Light is the official historical record for the Fraternity, and clearly the text is designated as a “handbook”. Every Crescent worth a grain of burning sand, is instructed with the passages which stem from the Sigma Light. If they are lucky, they may even be able to recite a couple of lines from the Perfection Scoop. I can recall during my younger years, fresh from the vigorous pledge process, just waiting for any ‘Ole School brother to ask me a Sigma related question, so I could demonstrate the thorough and comprehensive nature of my intake process. To this day, no one has every asked me to recite the first 5 Editors of the Crescent. So, for practical purposes, the Sigma Light is your introduction to the Sigma History. Hon. Brother Edgar B. Felton, the 1962 Chairman for The
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