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The Delta Phi Debating and Literary Society: Utah's First Fraternity, 1869-1904
Back view of the main building of the University of Deseret (Utah) on site of present West High School. USHS collections.
The Delta Phi Debating and Literary Society: Utah's First Fraternity, 1869-1904
BY WILLIAM G HARTLEY
IN 1869, THE YEAR OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE, a Delta Phi Society appeared on the University of Deseret campus (it became the University of Utah in 1892) in Salt Lake City.1 Delta Phi deserves a niche in Utah history because it was our first university student society, the school's most important student organization for a quarter-century, Utah's first Greek-letter organization, and one of the first Greek-letter units in the West.
Life for college students often involves campus extra-curricular activities. However, space and source limitations cause official histories of universities to merely mention or highlight student organizations rather than give in-depth coverage College yearbooks, catalogs, and student newspapers notice but a tiny part of what these units do. So, unless college clubs, societies, fraternities, and sororities keep a record of their own meetings and activities or write their own histories, we lack an important part of a school's history. Utah libraries contain few histories of college student organizations.
For students at the University of Deseret/University of Utah between 1869 and 1900 Delta Phi was the chief men's society on campus. Ralph V Chamberlin's official history of the U. contains several discussions of early student societies that offer a brief introduction to Delta Phi's activities but not an in-depth look.2 Fortunately, three volumes of Delta Phi minutes survive to help expand the story.3 The Delta Phi Literary Society minutes, recorded during 1872-74, and a second book for the 1884-88 period, are preserved at the University of Utah Archives A third set, the minutes for 1888-97, penned in an oversize leatherbound, lined book, is found in the LDS Church Archives. (Minute books for 1869-72 and 1875-83 are missing.) These records reveal a busy fraternity—a vital student society spanning a quarter-century. They contain minutes of meetings and debates, the society's constitutions, and membership lists They also tell about several members who later became influential in Utah. Most important, perhaps, they help us see what it was like to be a student back then.
FRATERNITIES IN AMERICA BY 1869
America's first Greek-letter fraternity was Phi Beta Kappa, established for social and literary purposes at William and Mary College during the Revolutionary War.4 In the early nineteenth century both social fraternities and literary societies sprang up on college campuses and became the ancestors of later Greek-letter social fraternities.5 By 1861, 71 colleges in 25 states had fraternities.6 Some fraternities had evolved into ritual-filled, secretive, social groups, while others, particularly in smaller colleges and in rural areas, were debating societies and literary clubs. Delta Phi at the U. was a fraternity of the latter type. The "period of greatest prosperity" for college debating societies stretched from 1790 to 1840, although a report in 1901 noted that on a few campuses "the debating society still remains one of the potent factors of student life."7
Debating and literary societies had written constitutions, held elections that helped students practice politics, and offered a taste of rivalry between societies on the same campus; Delta Phi in Utah fit this mold. Some societies published newspapers or created libraries; Delta Phi dabbled with these projects. The debating societies performed important social functions, but secrecy of meetings and initiation ceremonies had little importance; such was the case with Delta Phi Some, including Delta Phi, received great interest from the students—"the athlete had not yet arisen as a college hero, so the orator and writer represented the ideals of the academic youth."8 A debating society's main function was "to prepare students for public life," and "to create and strengthen a permanent interest in public affairs"— many Delta Phis later became prominent in Utah affairs. Some debating societies contained "a certain breadth and esprit de corps which made them a strong bond between the student and the college," and such was Delta Phi's role.
THE DELTA PHI LITERARY SOCIETY, 1869-74
In 1869 John R. Park assumed the presidency of the University of Deseret (he served until 1892), which was then a commercial school. He added classical and scientific studies to its curriculum. Spring term that year saw 223 students enroll, and 125 attended that fall.9 According to Weston Taylor's history of early Delta Phi, one of Park's first efforts as president was to promote Delta Phi to groom student speakers and debaters.10
Delta Phi was Utah's first fraternity. Taylor gives 1869 as the founding date, noting that Delta Phi was formed during the winter of the 1869-70 school year. This was two years before Zeta Gamma, which some incorrectly claim was the first.11 Delta Phi was perhaps the third Greek-letter fraternity in the Far West. As early as 1854 and 1858, two local fraternities sprouted at the University of the Pacific in San Jose, California (later relocated to Stockton, California).12 Baird's Manual, the bible of American fraternity facts, provides founding dates for colleges and fraternities, including these western schools established before 1869:13
Table *see at end of article
Who chose the Delta Phi name and why it was chosen are not known, but the founders apparently had no knowledge that a Delta Phi fraternity in the East then had eleven chapters on various campuses. 14 Utah's Delta Phi was primarily a debating society. Although members gave literary readings and practiced parliamentary procedure, Taylor noted, "the spirit of Webster and Calhoun predominated."15 Orson F. Whitney, a student then, recalled that the school had two debating societies, Delta Phi for seniors and Zeta Gamma for juniors. In both, he said, Dr. Park "took greatest pride."16
When Park left for a mission to study European schools in 1871, he received a framed picture containing oval pictures of nineteen early University of Deseret debaters He prized it After he retired in 1892 it hung in the University of Utah faculty room with the caption "Zeta Gamma." However, Rulon S. Wells, one of those pictured, believed the men were Delta Phis because he was a Delta Phi but never a Zeta Gamma. John T. Caine,Jr., who said he presented the picture to Dr. Park in 1871, agreed. Thirteen of the nineteen men pictured were charter members of Delta Phi. Chamberlin's history of the school says Zeta Gamma was founded in 1872, a year after Park's trip So, despite the "Zeta Gamma" caption, the pictured men are probably Delta Phis.17 Delta Phi's first home was the old Council House on the corner of Main and South Temple streets, which was the University of Deseret's campus in 1869. Delta Phis met weekly in the second floor as-sembly room. 18 Minutes for December 20, 1872, provide our earliest glimpse of their meetings. Business included the reading of minutes, an election, a declamation by W C Dunbar, essays read by Harmel Pratt and chapter secretary John T Caine, and a debate But because disputants were not prepared on the question, "Was the Execution of Charles I of England Justifiable?", a new topic was substituted: "Can a Man Sin Without Knowing It?" Debater H. Pratt, affirmative, won againstJ. C. Young, negative.
When Zeta Gamma was organized as a second debating group, Delta Phis invited them to attend Delta Phi meetings whenever they wished Early in 1874 the two groups agreed to debate each other. Delta Phi met weekly on Wednesday or Thursday evenings, and most meetings featured a debate. Debate topics the members picked in the early 1870s included: public opinion exercises a more powerful restraint over the criminal disposition of men than statutory law; capital punishment should be abolished; and Chinese immigration is detrimental to our country.
Members named in the 1872-74 minute book are Theodore W. Curtis, Alfales Young, W. C. Dunton, Jr., S. H. Leaver, Arthur Pratt, C P Huey, Aaron Cummings, Harry Culmer, E G Taylor, Lord Gilberson, Alonzo Hyde, P. Margetts, Jr., Rolla Roberts, Orson F.Whitney, John G. Felt, and Albert Kimball.
Women also joined Delta Phi. Early in 1873 the minutes note, "On motion Misses Isa Calder, Aggie Mcintosh, Caroline Young, Mary Gilberson, and Mrs. A Pratt were elected Hon[orary] members of the Society."19 A month later Miss Vilate and Miss Retta Young also were elected as honorary members.20 By the end of 1873 the club had passed an amendment that "Lady candidates for admission to membership in this Society shall not be required to pay any initiation fee; nor shall any fees or fines be imposed upon them after admission."21 In February 1874 Misses Adie Snow, Alice Overton, and Caroline Young were voted in as "active members."22 A month later Miss Snow was elected the club's secretary, and Mary Gilberson was voted in as an active member.
Delta Phi's officers included the usual president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, but also a "marshall"—a "dignified janitor" who cleaned the room and trimmed the lamps. Often the retiring society president was voted into that "honorary position."23
The University of Deseret faltered for one year, 1871-72, then restarted. Two full-time teachers plus one part-time carried the school through the 1872-73 year. Classes taught included reading and elocution, arithmetic (advanced), geometry, botany, algebra, orthography, composition and rhetoric, Latin, algebra (advanced), grammar, civil government, German, and geology and mineralogy.24
Because the school lacked a good library, Delta Phi tried to create a library for itself early in 1873 by selling shares to club members for $5.00 each.25 During that year Delta Phi considered setting up a chess club in connection with the library.26 For reasons easily guessed, at one meeting "an appropriation was made for the purchasing of a spittoon."27 Then, Delta Phi came under a cloud in the community, losing support for its library drive On March 7, 1873, the members discussed the negative "impression the society was making on the public mind." Apparently members had attempted to raise library funds by holding some kind of entertaining social not acceptable to local people. C. F. Winslow explained the problem to Delta Phi members several months after it happened:
Winslow added that he had attended several Delta Phi debates during the previous year and had never heard a word or act upon which such "unjust and disparaging attention" could be based. Opponents, he believed, wanted to crush the debating society out of existence.
By June 1873, in the middle of the controversy, a Delta Phi committee drafted a new constitution to turn their unit into a scientific debating society. On October 9, after a spirited discussion, the members tabled the new constitution.29 Apparently Delta Phi moved off campus that fall, perhaps because of the negative reactions When Dr Winslow addressed them in November as their president-elect they were meeting in the St Mark's School. In this inaugural address he challenged Delta Phi to become a scientific institute: "This community and the territory are far behind the rest of the Republic, excepting the most benighted colored communities in opportunities for a decent common education." The University of Deseret, he complained, was "below the rank of the Boston High School, and scarcely on a par with the best free grammar schools of New England." Utah's education system "is a living and lasting disgrace," he carped. Delta Phi should stop being a debating club and instead tackle "a studious cultivation of science and letters" and become "an academy of science." Be more interested in science, he urged, than in politics or moral questions. Members liked his talk so much that they had it published in the Salt Lake Tribune, then an anti-Mormon publication.30
However, the controversy and science-dabbling cost Delta Phi its appeal among the students. OnJanuary 29, 1874, after reducing initiation fees by half to $2.50, the members discussed what to do about "the flagging interest felt by many members in the doings of the society." Among the members expelled for nonattendance was student luminary Orson F.Whitney.31 Spring elections put men into office for fall term, but the record book's pages are blank after the early-1874 meetings.
AT Two WEST SIDE CAMPUSES
In 1876 the U. moved from the Council House to an old adobe two-story knitting factory, soon known as the Union Academy Building It stood at the corner of Second West and First North streets Probably Delta Phi continued to function at this location, too, but we lack records for it there Chamberlin, using sources not cited, says Delta Phi and Zeta Gamma then met weekly in the evenings and that the university charged them fifty cents a week for light and heat. According to Chamberlin, "The debates at these meetings were often serious and lively, and discussions and expressions of ideas so free that a member of the Board of Regents raised the question as to whether the influence of the Zeta Gamma was in the right direction."32
In 1884 the university moved again, this time to its own campus across the street on old Union Square, into a new main university building where West High now is. That year the school was authorized to grant degrees.33 Delta Phi's minutes resume then, too. The fraternity held its weekly meetings in Room A of the new building from 1884 until the late 1890s.34
In 1885 "there was a lull" in interest in student societies which the faculty decided to investigate. In September 1886 their committee reported "that the Delta Phi was in a flourishing condition, while Zeta Gamma and Edina societies were in abeyance 'owing to small attendance.'"35 One year later Delta Phi "proved to be too large to give opportunity to all who wished to participate actively," causing "something of a secession to and revival of the Zeta Gamma." In response, Delta Phi as a spoof "brought to trial several of the seceding members under the charge of treason, Professor Kingsbury of the faculty being brought into service asjudge."36
The March 1891 issue of the students' monthly newspaper, the Lantern, said the school's four principal societies then were Edina, Normal, Zeta Gamma, and Delta Phi. "The objects of these societies are the training of their members in oratory, debating, declamation, composition, and parliamentary rules of order," the reporter noted. The groups "are strictly under control of the faculty, although the officers are each chosen from, and elected by the members of the society." The article called Delta Phi "the oldest society in the university," whose members were "from the higher classes who have some knowledge of parliamentary law. It is the Delta Phi that engages in debates with the other societies throughout the territory." From time to time its meetings featured lectures by members, faculty, or outside speakers Zeta Gamma, by contrast, was "largely composed of Preparatory Normal Students interested in debating and speaking."
In October 1891 the Lantern urged students tojoin Delta Phi The society began the year, it said, with an attendance of thirty, then increased. Meetings were held Monday evenings at 7:00 in the University Building for the purposes of "practical training in oratory, legitimate debates, declamations, and parliamentary rules and order." To praise and to recruit, the Lantern said a month later, "the society proposes a kind of intellectual tournament, in which the members have a chance to hurl the lance and wield the sword and thus prepare for the conflict of Life."
Meetings were held weekly, if a quorum showed up, except during summer months. Attendance figures for early 1893 show that less than 20 attended the weekly meetings: 13, 19, 17, 10, 17, 11, 14, 11. Weekly programs featured musical and spoken presentations, including debates.
MEMBERSHIP RULES
The Delta Phi 1884 and 1888 minute books preserve the society's constitution. It states that Delta Phi was created to promote the "material improvement of ourselves arising from concerted action in the study of Literature, Science, Elocution and Debate"; to help members in "maintaining a perfect command of temper"; and for "seeking for truth in all our exercises."At times the group called itself the Delta Phi Literary and Debating Society. It was under the control of the university, and all faculty were ex-officio members. The record book indicates that professorsJoseph B. Toronto and O. T. Howard served as Delta Phi's faculty advisors.
According to the constitution, at the end of each school term members elected a president, vice-president, correspondence secretary, recording secretary, and treasurer, and together these officers formed a board of directors. By the fall of 1884 the group was regularly electing an editor, apparently to publish the Delta Phi "Herald" required by the constitution.37 Whether any news sheets ever were issued is not known. By the fall of 1885, however, Delta Phi had dropped the "Herald" clause from its constitution.38
Delta Phi minute books identify the following as the presidents elected each quarter:
1885-88
O W Snow, John M Whitaker, H A Smith, Charles H. Hart, Albert Spencer, George Halverson, William Allison, Alfred Osmond, S W Stewart, G. M. Thompson, Oscar Moyle, Harden Bennion
1888-97
W. D. Neal, Milton Bennion, H C Lewis, C W Ames, Levi E Young, Philo T Farnsworth, Jr, A. L. Larson, S. F. Rigby
Other presidents identified by the student newspapers 39 in the 1890s and a few years beyond are:
L R Riggs, F. M. Driggs, Joseph. J. Cannon, O W Carlson, E. S. Leaver, R V Smith, Ernest Bramwell, John W. Condie
Regarding membership, the constitution provided that any registered student of the university could join if voted in Later an amendment was proposed, and probably added, that any student in the university or any student in the third or fourth year of the Normal Course could become a member. But first the candidate, male or female, had to deliver or read before a regular meeting "an essay, treatise, speech or lecture on any literary or scientific subject he or she may choose." A committee judged the presentation and recommended for or against membership Then a favorable vote by threefourths of the members present allowed the person to join.
Each fall new members joined the society, recruited by other members or encouraged by faculty members. Minutes for September 14, 1885, say that members voted to have the chapter officers "write a request to be handed to Dr. Park that he may notify the scholars at the opening exercises, that an invitation is extended to every one desirous of attending our meetings."
During the 1880s and 1890sJ. Reuben Clark, Oscar Moyle, Alfred Osmond, Milton Bennion, O. N. Stohl, Rosel Hyde, and more than 100 other men and several coeds belonged to Delta Phi. Signers of the 1884 and 1888 constitutions include:
William Shipley. Joseph S. Peery, H. W. Chamberlain, Thomas Ellerback, Joseph L Heywood, William J. Kerr, Louis Howell, John E Booth, O. C. Dunford. Richard R. Shipp, John T Caine, Jr. Rulon S Wells, Junius F. Wells, Charles H. Hart, James Linford, Harmel Pratt, Aquilla Nebeker, Heber Bennion, Joseph B. Toronto, John Henry Smith, Orson F Whitney, Frank S Chase, J. H. Faust
Several young women also joined Delta Phi during the 1880s and 1890s For example, in the fall quarter of 1885 (the college catalog that year called Delta Phi a men's unit), the chapter accepted Bessie Dean, Emily Dean, Belle Salmon, Lottie Mathews, Rose Osmond, and a Miss Nebaker as members.40 On May 26, 1892, members elected Mae Phelps to be secretary for the coming quarter; that fall they elected her vice-president.41 Two years later the judges for one chapter debate were Edna Hyde, Kate Parsons, and Julia Farnsworth However, minute books fail to list any women as debaters.42
In the fall of 1895 me n questioned whether women should be allowed to join, so the matter became the subject of the October 7 debate: "Resolved: the admittance of lady collegiate students would be beneficial to the Delta Phi." When the negative side won, chapter members openly discussed the subject. What conclusion they reached is not recorded, but records fail to mention any women members after that.
Delta Phi's funds came from fines or from special assessments For unexcused absences the society fined members two cents, or fifteen cents if they missed their assigned parts on the meeting's program For persons refusing to take part in a program or pleading they were unprepared, the fine was fifteen cents. Three unexcused absences could cancel the person's membership However, by the mid1890s members had voted to drop most of the fines In the 1880s and 1890s no dues were charged. Several times the members agreed to donate twenty-five cents each to help pay for the janitor Another special assessment paid for the minute book An 1894 report showed that the chapter, at the end of spring quarter, had a mere $2.10 in its account.
DEBATE RULES AND TOPICS
The society's 1888 constitution listed several debate rules Speakers were limited to ten minutes but the "champion" debater on each team received five minutes to summarize. In terms of topics, "no subject of a pernicious tendency or of a religious nature shall be discussed." Three judges determined the outcome. The chapter's April 9, 1888, meeting perhaps typifies meetings of this period. After the secretary read minutes of the previous meeting, president W D Neal gave a short sketch of the history of the society. Then two sets of debaters tackled the subject: "Resolved: that Peter the Great did more for Russia than Victor Immanuel did for Italy." ON Stohl and George Halverson took the affirmative, C. W. Kelley and Ephraim Johnson the negative No winner was noted.
Like today's collegiate debaters, Delta Phi competitors explored topics of current concern to their society. They grappled with such controversial matters as free trade, the U.S government's policy toward American Indians, Russian serfdom versus American slavery, the restriction of immigration into the United States, government control of the railroad system, and crime as a psychological disease.
Delta Phi's debates about "women's issues" provide historical perspective on some of today's issues. For example, they debated more than once if women should receive "the same remuneration for the same work" as men On December 8, 1890, the proposition lost by a 2 to 1 vote, but on January 18, 1892, the affirmative debaters won by 3 to 0. When the teams debated if the elective franchise should be given to the women of all republics, the proposition lost by a 3 to 0 vote On January 21, 1895, on the proposition that women's mental capacities were equal to those of men, the negative side won.
With Utah statehood approaching, debaters tackled such topics as "free school education should be adopted in Utah county" and "there should be a prohibition clause in our state constitution." The Delta Phis also selected intellectually stimulating subjects that were not current issues, including whether Andrew Jackson was a better general than Zachary Taylor, Brutus wasjustified in conspiring against Julius Caesar, France has contributed more to civilization than England, and anticipation affords more pleasure than realization.
In 1896 Delta Phi drew praise from the student Chronicle for abolishing rules requiring judges to decide the results of debates; instead they would argue for the sake of truth, not for winning.43
INTERSOCIETY DEBATES
Delta Phi debaters sometimes competed with other societies In 1884, for example, the members voted to accept a challenge from Zeta Gamma for a "friendly debate" on the topic "Who stands on the better platform, Blaine of Maine or Cleveland of New York?" The choices either of men or sides, the number of debaters, and the time of meeting was Delta Phi's.44
A year later Delta Phi and Zeta Gamma's rivalry came to a head, and they competed with each other for members Minutes for October 19, 1885, note that "some of the members who intended to belong to the Zeta Gamma Society handed in their resignations." One notable defector was Delta Phi's own president, John M Whitaker, against whom impeachment charges were brought.45 At the next meeting the charges were spelled out.46 While president of Delta Phi, Whitaker had assisted in organizing Zeta Gamma, joined it, and then become its president. Zeta Gamma, the minutes say without explanation, was a "society whose interests are diametrically opposed to those of the Delta Phi Society." Faced with expulsion, Whitaker resigned.47
Early in 1891 Delta Phi accepted the Draper Young Men's Lyceum's challenge to a debate. On October 24, 1892, the members voted "that the Delta Phi Society challenge any society for a debate." On January 16, 1893, they agreed to challenge Zeta Gamma Society for a friendly debate. Two weeks later Zeta Gamma and Delta Phi debaters tackled the resolution "that the nationalization of industries would not be beneficial to the people of the United States."48 Levi Edgar Young represented Delta Phi, the affirmative side Minutes say that "Room 28 was filled to the utmost The debate being for supremacy of the societies, was hot, and stubbornly contested, but the 'Old Delta Phi' carried away the honors."
On March 13, 1893, Delta Phi debaters crossed intellectual swords with a YMCA team about the resolution that "there should be an educational qualification for voters in the U.S." Delta Phi, the affirmative side, won. On May 13, 1895, the group refused a challenge to debate with the YMCA's "Politic Debating Society."But later that year the Delta Phis challenged the Bountiful Literary and Debating Society.49 Several months later the Bountiful group accepted and proposed three resolutions to defend or attack.50 The U.S.wasjustified in acquiring the territory it did, and in the way it did, from Mexico; England wasjustified in her actions connected with the Crimean War or the War with Russia over Turkey; and it would be in the best interests of the United States of America to annex Canada if a majority of the people of Canada so desire.
Early in 1896 Delta Phi debaters and fans rode a chartered train to Bountiful. Then in horse-drawn vehicle and on foot they crossed muddy roads to the opera house to debate the Bountiful Literary and Debating Society.51
SPEECH AND MUSIC PRESENTATIONS
Several times each quarter Delta Phi meetings featured speakers or lecturers For example, Chester Ames gave a short presentation on comets and Mr. Rigby another on the "Armenian question."52 Biographies proved popular, so members on occasion heard life sketches of such notables as Cromwell, Lafayette, Napoleon, Mary Stuart, Benjamin Franklin, Washington Irving, Charles Sumner, and Utah frontiersman Lot Smith. During the winter of 1887-88 a club committee invited several guest lecturers to the meetings. In February 1888 their advisor, Professor Toronto, lectured to them about "German Literature."53 Evolution was a popular campus topic, so onJanuary 20, 1890, Professor James E. Talmage spoke to Delta Phi about the "Theory of Evolution." (Talmage would serve as the university's president between 1894 and 1897.) On November 16, 1891, Professor Montgomery, armed with models of skulls and fossil remains, lectured on "Teeth in the Animal Kingdom."54 In early 1894 Delta Phi sponsored a lecture series that the Chronicle praised for being "by far the ablest lectures that have been given at the university during the year."55
Political issues piqued members' interest, especially during election years. On November 5, 1888, the society voted itself into a "political meeting" for the evening. In 1896, when the presidential election pitted William Jennings Bryan against William McKinley and the silver question was a hot issue, the society held a discussion about the silver question and heard a biographical sketch of McKinley. The man assigned to sketch Bryan's life, however, missed the meeting.56
By plan or default, members sometimes gave extemporaneous talks At the fall 1895 opener the group voted that because no program was ready the president would call on members to give extemporaneous talks or musical numbers and that he himself should speak. The minutes note:
By constitutional fiat members could be asked to sing or perform musical numbers—but not extemporaneously unless they volunteered. Musical numbers, including organ and vocal solos and singing groups, sometimes enriched the weekly meetings. In 1885, foreshadowing Delta Phi's notable choruses in this century, a Delta Phi Quartette Club was performing.58 By late 1893 Delta Phi was inviting guest performers to render musical selections To help the guests, the club decided on November 27 that "a committee be appointed to see that a carriage be provided for the accommodation of those who are to entertain the society during its course of lectures."
Delta Phi secretaries sometimes compiled quarterly summaries of the group's activities. During the term prior to April 1893, for example, secretary A. J. Ridges tallied that the club had held 8 regular meetings which featured debates with Zeta Gamma, the YMCA, and 5 other debates, and had heard 7 biographical sketches, 3 lectures on current topics, 1 reading, 1 stump speech, 1 recitation, 1 impromptu speech, 2 instrumental selections, and 1 vocal selection. A similar report in June 1894 showed more meetings and less debating: in 12 meetings there were 1 debate, 2 readings, 2 essays, 2 lectures, 3 biographies, 4 recitations, 4 songs, 7 prepared speeches, and 13 extemporaneous speeches. A report on May 25, 1896, lists debates, recitations, a song, talks, and 2 10-minute parliamentary procedure drills.
SOCIAL AND SERVICE EVENTS
Delta Phi sponsored social events enjoyed by students, faculty, and townspeople. Quarterly they usually selected a committee to put on a dance or ball. Early in 1891 Delta Phi sponsored dances for the student body of 298 scholars—181 males and 117 females—as the Lanterns March issue noted:
Following fall term 1891 Delta Phi sponsored "its grand opening ball," an event it seemed to host at the start of each new term. "The Delta Phi has the reputation of giving some of the best balls of the season," the October Lantern observed, and it praised the experienced committee who had charge: Messrs White, Leaver, E Christianson, Stookey, Calderwood, Eliason, Hall, and Riggs. Eighty couples, including cadets in uniform and ladies in "beautiful costumes," danced to "Professor Olsen's excellent orchestra."59 A December 23, 1892, holiday party won accolades for Delta Phi from students, the Lantern, and the Salt Lake Herald.60 In May 1893 Delta Phi gave "its annual farewell entertainment" of music and speeches.61 Early in 1897 Zeta Gamma and Delta Phi sponsored a ball and donated profits to the Chronicle.62
Once, when the University of Michigan Glee Club came to town, Delta Phis voted to support the performance, using club funds to defray half the cost of members' tickets.63 When university student M. L. Black died in February 1891, Delta Phi rallied students to erect a tombstone over his grave as a token to the memory of a "beloved associate."64 In 1894 Delta Phi sponsored an oratory contest for all students, offering cash prizes for two winners.65
DELTA PHI'S DISAPPEARANCE
Delta Phi Debating Society chugged strongly through the early 1890s, perhaps its finest period of activity, but sputtered at the decade's end. In the fall of 1893 many new students signed Delta Phi's constitution tojoin the unit considered "the stand-by of the collegiate students." It drew praise in 1893 by revising its constitution to demonstrate concern about the moral advancement of its members and to limit membership to persons "of high moral character." In 1894 Delta Phi observed Lincoln's birthday by hearing addresses about Lincoln, U S Grant, and Robert E Lee In 1895 the Chronicle told readers that Delta Phi, enjoying an influx of applicants, was "always looked to as the giant society in intellect and ability." A few months later the Chronicle praised Delta Phi's new pin as being "neat, not showy, obcordate in shape, and the prettiest pin out." In the fall of 1895 a number of ladies wanted tojoin Delta Phi, forcing the men to discuss the matter.66
The last meeting recorded in existing minute books is May 24, 1897.67 The next year, 1898, when new student units flourished on the campus, Delta Phi "discontinued its meetings."68 But by March 1899 a revived Delta Phi promoted an intercollegiate literary contest between the U. and other schools in the state.69 Liking this renewal, the Chronicle on November 15, 1899, predicted "a most successful year's work" for Delta Phi:
In January 1900 the Chronicle said Delta Phi men, led by President Ernest Bramwell, were seeking to create an intercollegiate debating association.70 That October the university moved to the east bench to its new sixty-acre campus During the first year there, Delta Phi faltered The February 26, 1901, Chronicle noted that Delta Phi "has indefinitely adjourned" because the thirty-one members had "resolved themselves" into a group seeking to become a "real fraternity" chartered by the national organization of Greek fraternities. The Chronicle added that on February 15, 1901, the men feasted at a banquet and then initiated six men by hazing them: the recruits, blindfolded and their hands tied, were locked in basement rooms and then moved together and required to act the parts of farm animals for the group.
But the new social unit did not replace Delta Phi. In the fall of 1902 Delta Phi, which the Chronicle said had been inactive for nearly two years, resurrected itself briefly when twenty-five college men attended "an enthusiastic meeting" to restart the group. The Chronicle saluted this restart: "The Delta Phi was one time the leading fraternity at the university," it commented; and "we hope to see it become so again."71 The men approved a constitution making them a society for fraternal, social, literary, and debating purposes to meet on Wednesday afternoons.72 In February 1903 Delta Phi elected officers.73
But after 1904 Delta Phi cannot be found. The university's 1904 catalog lists Delta Phi as one of the campus societies, but after that all mention of Delta Phi disappeared from catalogs, yearbooks, and newspapers. 74 Debating continued, but Delta Phi did not.75 Chamberlin says that the university's literary and debating societies "began a rapid decline" after 1900 due to broadened student interests, development of other campus activities, including athletics, and "the appearance and quick growth of the Greek letter fraternities."76
ASSESSMENT AND POSTSCRIPT
Chamberlin credits Delta Phi with being ^college men's society from 1870 to 1900, when it was the university's most active student organization.77 That Delta Phi contributed a cultural and social richness to hundreds of students' experiences is evident. It helped train scores of students in speaking, debating, and thinking. As a forum for lectures and discussions of ideas, academic subjects, and current affairs, Delta Phi helped educate many of the students. The society elected dozens of officers, giving them leadership experience.
And, difficult to measure but of undoubted value, Delta Phi helped members forge friendships and contacts that became useful networks during their adult lives and careers. Significant for Utah, Salt Lake City, and LDS church history, many Delta Phis went on to gain state and even national recognition in political, educational, religious, and business affairs. These include Heber M. Wells, Utah's first governor; Alfred Osmond, a popular professor at BYU; Joseph F. Merrill, a dean at the University of Utah, LDS church commissioner of education, and then an apostle; Stephen L Richards, a prominent lawyer, businessman, apostle, and counselor in the LDS First Presi-lawyer, businessman, apostle, and counselor in the LDS First Presidency; J. Reuben Clark, Jr., a high official in the U.S State Department and member of the LDS First Presidency; LDS Apostle John Henry Smith; and Harden Bennion, Utah state insurance commissioner.78
From 1905 until 1920 Delta Phi was dormant. Then, in 1920 some University of Utah students created a fraternity for LDS returned missionaries called the Friars Club It spread to other Utah campuses. In 1931, with encouragement and permission from former Delta Phis, the Friars changed their name to Delta Phi. From the 1930s to the 1970s Delta Phi, which added a Kappa in 1961 to become Delta Phi Kappa, was a successful college fraternity of returned LDS missionaries. It played important social and service roles on campuses in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona At its zenith in the 1950s it had chapters on ten campuses and operated chapter houses at the University of Utah, Utah State University, and Arizona State College Among LDS general authorities who served as national presidents of Delta Phi were Elders Joh n A. Widtsoe, Matthew Cowley, Milton R Hunter, Henry D Taylor, Paul H Dunn, and Marion D Hanks. In 1978 Delta Phi Kappa was absorbed by Sigma Gamma Chi, the current LDS social unit for men on college campuses throughout the United States.79
NOTES
Mr. Hartley is an associate research professor of history at Brigham Young University's Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History.
1 Elizabeth Haglund, Remembering: The University of Utah (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1981), pp. 2-10.
2 Ralph V. Chamberlin, The University of Utah: A History of Its First Hundred Years, 1850 to 1950 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1960), pp. 114, 140, 216, 217, 309.
3 Delta Phi Literary Society, January 1, 1873-April 30, 1874 [actually begins with December 20, 1872], holograph and typescript, MS 58, Delta Phi Society, Minutes, 1884-88, holograph, MS 58, Special Collections, University of Utah Library, Salt Lake City; Delta Phi Society Minutes, 1888-97, Delta Phi Files, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, MSD 3600, folder 1.
4 John Robson, ed., Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities, 17th ed. (Menasha, Wis.: George Banta Co., 1963), p. 7.
5 "Fraternities and Sororities," Encyclopedia Americana 12 (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier, Inc. 1964), vol. F., p. 20.
6 Clyde Sanfred Johnson, Fraternities in Our Colleges (New York: National Interfraternity Foundation, 1972), pp. 21-24.
7 Henry D. Sheldon, Student Life and Customs (New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1969), pp. 125-42, 203.
8 Ibid.
9 John R. Park Journal, microfilm of holograph, Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Film 920, #25.
10 Weston W. Taylor, "Early History of Delta Phi," typescript, Friars Folder, Delta Phi File, LDS Church Archives, p. 1. John R. Park’s Journal for 1869 does not mention Delta Phi.
11 Ronald W. Walker incorrectly claims Zeta Gamma was the first Greek-letter unit in his "Growing Up in Early Utah: The Wasatch Literary Association, 1874-1878," Sunstone 6 (November/December 1981): 44. Delta Phi was "the oldest society in the University," according to the university’s student newspaper, Lantern 1 (March 1891): 6, Special Collections, Lee Library, BYU; Zeta Gamma was started by Delta Phi men who "seceded," according to Taylor, "Early History," p. 2; Taylor, p.l, says Delta Phi was founded in 1869, although Chamberlin’s The University of Utah, p. 77, dates Delta Phi to 1870 and Zeta Gamma to 1872. "University of Deseret Historical Sketch, 1850-1885," author unidentified, handwritten, microfilm copy in Special Collections, University of Utah Library, original at Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
12 Johnson, Fraternities in Our Colleges, p. 23.
13 Baird’s Manual, p. 68.
14 ibid., pp. 252-53.
15 Taylor, "Early History of Delta Phi," p. 1.
16 Ralph V. Chamberlin, Memories of John R. Park (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Emeritus Club, 1949), p. 56. Walker, "Growing Up," p. 1.
17 Chamberlin’s founding date for Delta Phi is on p. 77; The picture was reprinted in the Deserei Evening News, January 11, 1902.
18 Taylor, "Early History of Delta Phi," p. 1.
19 Minutes, May 9, 1873.
20 Minutes, June 6, 1873.
21 Minutes, December 26, 1873.
22 Minutes, March 14, 1874.
23 Taylor, "Early History of Delta Phi," p. 1.
24 Chamberlin, The University of Utah, p. 103.
25 Minutes, February 3 and 28, 1873.
26 Minutes, March 14, 1873.
27 Minutes, May 16, 1873.
28 "Delta Phi," Salt Lake Daily Tribune, November 8, 1873.
29 Minutes, June 24 and October 9, 1873.
30 Minutes, October 9, 1873.
31 Minutes, March 12, 1874.
32 Chamberlin, The University of Utah, p. 114.
33 Haglund, Remembering, pp. 2-10; Chamberlin, The University of Utah, p. 108.
34 Weston Taylor’s history corroborates this.
35 Chamberlin, The University of Utah, p. 140.
36 Ibid.
37 Minutes, September 18 and October 23, 1884.
38 Minutes, September 8, 1885.
39 Chronicle, February 6, 1893, October 23, 1893, December 20, 1894, March 8, 1899, January 17, 1900, October 28, 1902, February 10, 1903.
40 University of Deseret, Annual Catalog, 1885-86, Special Collections, Lee Library, BYU; Delta Phi Minutes, September 21, 1885.
41 Minutes, November 14, 1892.
42 Minutes, November 26, 1894.
43 Chronicle, February 18, 1896.
44 Minutes, October 9, 1884.
45 Minutes, October 19, 1895.
46 Minutes, October 26, 1895.
47 Minutes, November 3, 1895.
48 Minutes, February 6, 1893.
49 Minutes, November 25, 1895.
50 Minutes, April 18, 1896.
51 Chronicle, January 21, 1896.
52 Minutes, April 18, 1896.
53 Minutes, February 27, 1888.
54 Lantern 2 (November and December 1891).
55 Chronicle, June 5, 1894.
56 Minutes, October 12, 1896.
57 Minutes, September 3, 1895.
58 Minutes, May 27, 1885.
59 Lantern, December 1891.
60 Chronicle, January 9, 1893.
61 Chronicle, May 15, 1893.
62 Chronicle, February 16, 1897.
63 Minutes, April 20, 1896.
64 Lantern, June 1891.
65 Chronicle, November 6 and 27, 1894.
66 Chronicle, October 23 and November 7, 1893, February 20, 1894; January 28, June 4, and October 15, 1895. No pin has been located. It was designed by Wright, Kay and Co. of Detroit; Chronicle, June 4, 1895. Obcordate means heart-shaped or leaf-shaped.
67 Chronicky, June 3, 1897.
68 Chamberlin, The University of Utahy, p. 216; Chronicky June 7, 1898.
69 Chronick, March 8 and 22, 1899. Delta Phi elected Joseph J. Cannon, George Q. Morris, Claude M. Ridges, H. Claude Lewis, and E. A. Taylor as officers.
70 Chronick, January 17, 1900. Other officers were Seth F. Rierby, LeRoy Saunders, A. J. Evans, and G. S. Gibbs.
71 Chronicle, XI, student directory, p. 2, Chronicley October 28, 1902.
72 Chronicle, November 10, 1902.
73 Chronicle, February 10, 1903.
74 The university's first yearbook, the 1905-6 Utonian, mentions no Delta Phi yet boasts of intercollegiate debates the school had in Colorado and Idaho The 1907 and 1908 catalogs note no Delta Phi but do tell of a University Debating Club, renamed the John R Park Club, directed by the English Department Annual catalogs are located at the University of Utah Library in Special Collections.
75 In 1911 the campus established a chapter of Tau Kappa Alpha, a national debating fraternity.
76 Chamberlin, The University of Utah, pp. 298—99, 309—10.
77 Chamberlin, The University of Utah, pp. 217, 310.
78 "Delta Phi Kappa National Fraternity Pledge Education Program, 1970-71," stapled, mimeographed, about 20 pages, Delta Phi Files, LDS Church Archives, and Taylor, "Early History of Delta Phi," p. 1.78 Delta Phi Kappa Fraternity, A History: 1869—1978 (Salt Lake City: Delta Phi Holding Corporation, 1990); "Sigma Gamma Chi," Church News section of Deseret News, February 10, 1990, p. 8.
