Cross & Crescent

I have in my possession six issues of the Cross & Crescent magazine that I purchased from the estate of our founder Warren A. Cole (Boston 1909) a few years ago. The collection starts with Vol. II, No. 2 (August 1916) and ends with Vol. V, No. 1 (February 1919).

These early issues of the Cross & Crescent were considered secret or esoteric publications of our Fraternity intended only for initiated members in good standing. However, a close examination of these six issues reveals nothing that would be considered secret today.

The magazines rarely mention anything about our Ritual or sensitive internal business. The closest thing that could have been considered unavailable to the general public would be the occasional list of expelled members. Most of these men were expelled for either their failure to pay their dues or for ungentlemanly conduct.

It would be more accurate to label the early issues of the magazine as “private” publications. Eventually, the word “secret” was removed from the cover of the magazine.

These early editions of the Cross & Crescent are quite small, plain, and lack all decoration, with the exception of a nicely rendered engraving of the Lambda Chi Alpha coat of arms — as designed by Jack Mason (Pennsylvania 1913) — on the cover.

Warren A. Cole (Boston 1909) is also printed on the cover of most issues. At the time, Cole was Grand High Alpha, administrative secretary, and the sole jeweler for Lambda Chi Alpha. This combination of jobs and responsibilities would eventually contribute to a great internal leadership struggle within our young organization.

Type of Content

There are many interesting glimpses into the affairs of our Fraternity during this formulative period of its existence. The content of most issues of the Cross & Crescent is very similar to what was being published in the official exoteric magazine, The Purple, Green, and Gold, which was established just one year earlier in January 1914.

The Cross & Crescent magazines contain short listings of chapter activities, honors and awards bestowed on individual members and Zetas, births, marriages, job opportunities, lots of statistics, committee reports, and minutes of various conferences and conventions.

Each issue featured a page or two advertising the many products Cole sold on behalf of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Some items were published in catalogue form while other items were mentioned in paragraph form, as illustrated on page 19 of the April 1916 issue. Even the Cross & Crescent magazine could be purchased for $0.10 a copy.

The May 1918 issue even went as far as to scold some High Betas for not buying their chapter’s jewelry from the central office. Since Cole was the Fraternity’s jeweler, this represented lost revenue.

Not All Business

A few issues of the Cross & Crescent even contain some very interesting, unusual, and sometimes fun tidbits of information and news.

For example, all of the issues use the terms Lam Kai or Lambda Kai in reference to our members. This seems to have been a concerted effort on the part of our national leadership to brand our members with this nickname. Obviously, this strategy did not work but the leadership persisted in its quest for Lam Kai for many years.

Another issue of the Cross & Crescent features an early version of the “Lambda Chi Alpha Grace.” It is a simple, but meaningful expression that reads “Lord bless this food to our use and Lambda Kai to His service.”

It is also fun to note that Cole makes a reference to Lambda Kai’s Official Whistle, admonishing each member to “…learn it and use it.”

Military

The September 1918 issue of the Cross & Crescent is made up entirely of a directory of Lambda Chis then serving in the military. The directory is organized by chapter, zeta number, name, military rank, and mailing address of each serviceman.

This comprehensive listing was arranged by R.R. Rowe (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The list includes 168 officers serving in the Army and Navy, 96 noncommissioned officers, and 763 enlisted men.

A total of 1,027 brothers were in uniform in 1918 — an impressive number from a very young fraternal organization. It is also interesting to note that during 1918, three chapters contributed the largest contingents of men to the war effort:

• 43 from Massachusetts-Amherst
• 41 from Cornell
• 40 from California-Berkeley

Massachusetts Institute of Technology produced the most military officers with 22 members of their chapter that year. Though not mentioned by name, it was indicated that Massachusetts-Amherst, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and California-Berkeley had each lost one man to the war during 1918.

A final report concerning Lambda Chi brothers in World War I military service was printed in a 1929 issue of the Purple, Green, and Gold magazine. The report stated that 2,303 men, or 82 percent of our membership, were in some form of military service during World War I. Of that number, 37 brothers made the ultimate sacrifice.

Jewelry Pressure

Cole’s presumed conflict of interest between running the fraternity and a jewelry business played out in the February 1919 issue of the Cross & Crescent.

The issue listed a notice concerning the sale of jewelry that foreshadowed a looming crisis that would ultimately force Cole from our Fraternity until a reconciliation occurred in the 1950s.

The notice explains that Cole was appointed traveling secretary and sole fraternity jeweler for a three-year term with his salary coming from the sale of Lambda Chi badges and so forth. The notice outlines the rationale for authorizing the Hub Novelty Company of Swansea, Massachusetts to process all orders for merchandise with the exception of pledge buttons, badges, and recognition buttons. Those items would continue to be sold to the membership directly by Cole.

The plan was to free up Cole’s time so that he could spend more time in his role as traveling secretary. Cole was of the opinion that this new arrangement would permit him to free up about half of his available time for other administrative work.