{"id":10997,"date":"2019-02-27T16:17:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T00:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/collinsunbound\/?p=10997"},"modified":"2019-03-04T09:56:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T17:56:43","slug":"from-the-archives-special-collections-the-past-and-present-of-greek-life-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/collinsunbound\/from-the-archives-special-collections-the-past-and-present-of-greek-life-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Archives & Special Collections: The Past and Present of Greek Life on Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

This semester I have been invited by multiple Greek houses to discuss the importance of revisiting our history and preserving the documents we create. These two acts are central to the work we do in the archives and I\u2019m happy to help others through this process. I thought I\u2019d share the heart of my presentation through this blog post, to hopefully help others learn a bit about our past and think critically about our future.<\/p>\n

A Brief History of Greek Life at Puget Sound<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early 1900s, students began forming literary societies to promote friendship and social interaction. By 1926, eight local social fraternities and sororities had formed, several tracing their roots to the literary societies. Beginning in the late 1940s, the local groups began to affiliate with national organizations. By 1966, there were eight fraternities and seven sororities, all with national affiliations. A great example of this is the history of our chapter of Phi Delta Theta. In 1905, the Philomathean Literary Society was founded. In 1922, the local fraternity Delta Kappa Phi was founded by the men of the Philomathean Literary Society. By 1952, Delta Kappa Phi became the Washington Delta chapter of the national Phi Delta Theta fraternity, which continues on campus to this day. If you\u2019d like to learn more about the history of specific Greek houses on campus, read University of Puget Sound: From the Archives\u2014People, Places, and Stories<\/a> by John Finney.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Researching Greek Life on Campus<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interesting in investigating the history of Greek life on campus, the Archives & Special Collections has multiple resources for you. As well as the above publication, I recommend searching The Trail online<\/a> for old articles referencing Greek life or individual houses. You can also search for images from our historic photo collection online on A Sound Past<\/a>. There are also physical collections that you can investigate in our office, including our complete set of yearbooks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Preserving Documents for the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to have historical documents in the archives and within Greek organizations, people need to collect and preserve the documents they create. For any Greek organization, or student group in general, I\u2019d recommend the following best practices for preserving your history:<\/p>\n

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