Phi Alpha Theta

Phi Alpha Theta (ΦΑΘ) is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. The society has over 350,000 members, with about 9,500 new members joining each year through 860 local chapters.

Founding

Phi Alpha Theta was established on March 17, 1921 at the University of Arkansas by Professor Nels Cleven. Cleven had become convinced in his time at the university that a fraternity of scholars (which would accept men or women) was important for the study of history. He invited students to a meeting to form the society (then called the "University Historical Society") on March 14, and the society was officially recognized on the 17th. In April, the decision was made for the society to be known by the Greek letters Phi Alpha Theta.

Publication and leadership

Phi Alpha Theta publishes a quarterly historical journal entitled The Historian, which has over 12,500 individual subscribers and 1,000 library subscribers. The society's national headquarters and the journal's editorial offices are located at the University of South Florida. The Historian splits the space in its quarterly issues between articles and book reviews. The book review section of the journal has been based at Ohio Wesleyan University since 1994.

Alpha Theta

Alpha Theta is a gender-inclusive Greek house at Dartmouth College. The Alpha Theta Gender-Inclusive Greek House at Dartmouth College is a 501(c)(7) non-profit and the chapter house and property are owned by the Alpha Theta House Corporation, a 501(c)(2) non-profit.

History

Early Years

Alpha Theta was founded as a local fraternity named Iota Sigma Upsilon on March 3, 1920, by a group of seven students:

Robert L. Farwell, James W. Frost, Howard A. Hitchcock, Robert L. Loeb (Alpha Theta / Theta Chi's first president), Robert J. Minor, Burdette E. Weymouth, Ralph K. Whitney.

In 1921 the fraternity received a charter as the Alpha Theta chapter of Theta Chi. John Sloan Dickey, later President of the College, joined the fraternity in 1928 and was elected house president only two weeks later, while still a pledge.

Coal Furnace Accident

Nine brothers of Alpha Theta chapter of Theta Chi died in a tragic accident on the morning of Sunday, February 25, 1934, when the metal chimney of the building’s old coal furnace blew out in the night and the residence filled with poisonous carbon monoxide gas.

Phi Alpha Literary Society

Phi Alpha (ΦΑ) is a men's Literary Society founded in 1845 at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. It conducts Business Meetings, Literary Productions, and other activities in Beecher Hall, the oldest college building in the state of Illinois.

Origin

"On Thursday evening, September 25, 1845, seven students from Illinois College gathered in a small room on the third floor of the old dormitory and made a momentous and historic decision. In order to unite a group of men whose ideas and principles were similar enough as to desire a common bond of fellowship, a new society was to be organized. Five days later the Immortal Seven drew up and adopted the constitution that proved to be the birth certificate of Phi Alpha Literary Society."

Founders

The seven founders of Phi Alpha who are called the Immortal Seven are: