Cross & Crescent

The Search Begins

Various historical references say that two Purdue University groups, Alpha Epsilon and the Aeolian Club, were founded around 1908 and both became the nucleus of Psi Zeta. Founder Warren A. Cole (Boston 1912) and National Chancellor Ernst J.C. Fischer (Cornell 1910) conducted the installation ceremonies in West Lafayette, Indiana on December 11, 1915; making ours the 24th chapter of The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and the last one to be designated with only a single Greek letter.

My curiosity about these ancestor organizations was sharpened several years ago when I visited our Headquarters in Indianapolis and examined two badges from Alpha Epsilon; a jeweled badge donated by “J. Kirk Spangler” and a plain badge donated by “I. M. Cole.” Both these names would become familiar to me as my research continued but I wondered why there were no similar examples of Aeolian badges.

Soon afterward I contacted the Purdue library to request copies of entries from our yearbook, Debris, for this early period. Eventually my file grew to include all the years from 1911 to 1944, but several pieces of information remained missing. First, no entries for Alpha Epsilon were found although the librarians had checked all the way back through 1907. Second, the entries for the Aeolians don’t begin until 1911. Nevertheless these do show the progression of individual names, year to year, as they become Psi Zeta in the 1916 edition.

The 1911 Aeolian Club portrait shows 13 men and lists them by their scheduled graduation years, 1911 to 1914. It says the club was founded December 7, 1907, that its colors are “Deep Blue and Old Gold,” and its flower is the “Tuberose.”

Yearbooks of this era often listed alumni who had joined the faculty. They might also list names under the heading “In City” or “Fraters in Urbe” for those still living near the university and, presumably, supporting the club as active alumni. These notations were very helpful in filling in many of the names of members who had graduated before Aeolian’s yearbook entries began in 1911.

I began to speculate about the relationship between Alpha Epsilon and the Aeolian Club. Were they two different organizations or the same one? Was the fact that the name Aeolian begins with the letters “A” and “E” a coincidence? So far I seemed to have found one organization, Alpha Epsilon, that had badges but no record in Debris, and another, Aeolian, which appeared in Debris but had no known badge.

Fortunately, I was in contact with Jono Hren (Florida Tech 1975), an experienced Lambda Chi historian and collector, and new information began coming my way.

First, I received a copy of a page from a 1930 history, entitled Lambda Chi Alpha, 1909-29, which was published by our magazine, The Purple, Green and Gold. It is a collective history with a section for each school. For Purdue, it refers back to a November 1916 issue that had devoted a large section to Psi Zeta and says, “the Aeolian Athletic Club…organized at Purdue on December 7, 1907…(was) composed almost entirely of athletes….” It explains that Alpha Epsilon was founded at Valparaiso University and, in 1908, installed a second chapter at Purdue. A sketch of a badge is included and is identical to the jeweled badge donated by Spangler.

Then the narrative becomes less clear but it appears that the faculty at Valparaiso ruled against this expansion and placed constraints on its own local club. How that affected the second chapter at Purdue is unknown but there is evidence that it merged with the Aeolian Athletic Club in some way. The magazine is quoted as stating, “the local chapter was then called the Aeolian Club.” Even more important it lists the names of the 31 charter members of Psi Zeta; 21 undergraduates and 10 alumni including both J. Kirk Spangler (Purdue 1915) and Isidore M. Cole (Purdue).

Next, I received copies of the Psi Zeta entries from the 1930 Official Directory of Lambda Chi Alpha listing the first 245 members. By comparing the names of the 31 charter members to the names in Debris and in the directory I could confirm all but one or two as former members of the Aeolians.

So where are the members who joined from Alpha Epsilon? They seem to be missing. A possibility is that Alpha Epsilon had ceased to exist as a separate entity; probably before 1911. However, that presents another problem since the two badges in the display were both donated by charter members. Assuming these were their own badges, we know from their school dates that they would not have been part of a much earlier group. That leaves a possibility that the Alpha Epsilon badges were from men who had long since graduated and had been passed down as historical pieces to Spangler and Cole who eventually donated them.

The next steps were to seek a copy of the earlier (1916) article from Headquarters and to see what the archives at Valparaiso University might hold. Both efforts were very successful.

Since the earliest chronology starts at Valparaiso, reconstruction of our history will now begin 65 miles north of Purdue.

Valparaiso University and Alpha Epsilon

Archivists at the Valparaiso library found a local newspaper clipping dated May 5, 1953, describing the 50th anniversary celebration of Gamma Chi chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon. TKE had installed Alpha Epsilon as their Gamma Chi in 1951. It mentions that Alpha Epsilon was founded December 31, 1902, and also has this comment, “At the time of its founding, secret societies were outlawed on the local campus.” Recognition by the university came in 1904, and a charter by the state of Indiana was granted a year later; however, a reference is made to “hard times” somewhere between 1905 and 1917.

There is also a typewritten sheet, entitled “History of Alpha Epsilon,” which mentions the first official meeting on May 21, 1903, and the selection of colors as “gold and dark blue,” essentially the same as those shown later in Debris for the Aeolians.

I am especially appreciative of the archivists’ efforts in reviewing early yearbooks and looking for artwork that is often used to decorate appropriate pages. They found sketches of the badge and the only known depiction of the coat of arms and bearing the motto of Alpha Epsilon.

Purdue University and the Aeolian Club

Teresa Carlson, Executive Assistant at our Indianapolis Headquarters, found the November 1916 issue of The Purple, Green and Gold. Of even greater value, she retrieved our chapter’s entire history file and went through it in search of related material. To our benefit, Steve Sothmann (Purdue 2006) had spent the summers of 2003 and 2004 there as an intern and had already organized the material that included some very informative items including correspondence between Lealdas W. Haig (Purdue 1915), a senior in the Aeolian Club, and Ernst J. C. Fischer.

The first letter, from Haig, is dated February 4, 1915, and discusses a visit Fischer had just made to the Aeolians in West Lafayette. Haig expresses enthusiasm for joining “Lam Kai,” says several alumni had also given approval, and asks for Fischer’s “candid opinion of our bunch,” plus advice on drafting an application.

Fischer’s typewritten, three-page, single-spaced reply, dated only two days later, is remarkable for its wealth of information about the application process. He says Haig must deal directly with Warren Cole and that 27 copies of the application will be needed for review by the 18 existing chapters and the nine national officers. He also suggests having a photographer take pictures of the house and a group picture of the membership with a key “to tell us who is who.” Statements about each undergraduate and alumni member are to be included and are to be quite detailed. Initiation fee is $10.00 that includes a “plain badge having eight half pearls close set in the crescent, a years [sic] subscription to… Purple Green and Gold” and a signed membership “shingle.” He also discusses the policy of bringing the ritual to interested alumni as well as the need to get the approval of the university. As for giving his candid opinion of the Aeolian’s chances Fischer is a bit coy. He only visited for a few hours but admits that “you have all the requirements for a national name and…you are robbing some national of the opportunity to enroll some good men…by staying local.”

Apparently that process went well because Fischer writes to Purdue’s dean in August asking for his evaluation of “the Aeolian boys.”

In October, Fischer writes to Purdue President W. E. Stone thanking him for granting permission to install a chapter and to Haig congratulating him on their success. “I take it for granted that your local at West Lafayette will be put through the ropes before Christmas. You can soon say, ‘Aeolian is dead, long live Aeolian.’”

Answers to the Puzzle

The questions about the relationship between Aeolian and Alpha Epsilon are finally answered two decades after installation in a handwritten letter from Spangler to ‘Bruce’ and dated March 27, 1936. He seems to be responding to an inquiry about the early history of the Aeolians.

Without doubt he is writing to Bruce McIntosh (DePauw 1916), our administrative secretary, and tells him that “Roy C. Street went to Valparaiso University and was initiated into Alpha Epsilon. He came to Lafayette in 1908 and installed the second chapter at Purdue. Local fraternities at that time at Purdue did not have Greek names, so when the mother chapter became inactive we went back to the old name of Aeolian Club, why that name I do not know. We used the initiation of Alpha Epsilon all the time we were known outside as Aeolian Club.” He also urges Bruce to contact Roy C. Street (Purdue) and Harry G. Leslie (Purdue) for “more information, they are the ones you should get in touch with….”

The last item in the file is a typewritten sheet dated November 30, 1938, but it identifies neither the author nor the recipient. It may be a result of McIntosh taking Spangler’s advice and contacting Street or Leslie. By itself, it would raise some questions, but in combination with all that has been uncovered earlier it provides an excellent summation of the beginning of our history.

“Aeolian was founded in 1907; then some transfers from Valparaiso University who belonged to Alpha Epsilon came to Purdue in 1908 and affiliated with Aeolian. Aeolian then became the second chapter to Alpha Epsilon. The mother chapter became dormant soon afterwards and expansion stopped. Aeolian continued to use the ritual of Alpha Epsilon which consisted of one degree which was very beautiful and very similar in part to Lambda Chi Alpha. Aeolian also used the badge of Alpha Epsilon for the eight years of its existence or until it became Lambda Chi Alpha. Alpha Epsilon was known on the Purdue campus as Aeolian on account of local traditions; locals did not use Greek names.”