Phi Gamma Delta was founded on May 1, 1848. The “Immortal Six” – John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Daniel Webster Crofts, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman Fletcher – were students at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, when they founded the fraternity. The fraternity’s Beta chapter was established the same year at Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania. In 1865, the chapters became one when the colleges merged to form Washington and Jefferson College.
If you regularly read this blog, you likely know that Grace Goodhue Coolidge is one of my very favorite First Ladies, for a whole host of reasons. She was a charter member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at the University of Vermont. She had the good sense to marry a Phi Gamma Delta from Amherst College. According to reports, Grace’s mother was, at first, opposed to the marriage. In his autobiography, the President said of their marriage, “We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces.”
Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge won the Vice Presidential spot on the Republican ticket in the summer of 1920. At the time of the nomination, the Coolidges were in Amherst attending his 25th college reunion and the 99th anniversary of the college. A reception at the Phi Gam chapter house was arranged with his wife helping the chapter plan the event on short notice. More than 1,500 people attended.
The Coolidge family – Calvin, Jr., Calvin, Grace, and John shortly before Calvin, Jr.’s death. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
On August 2, 1923, Calvin Coolidge became President after the death of Warren G. Harding. The Coolidges were planning to attend Phi Gamma Delta’s 75th anniversary celebration in Pittsburgh in September 1923, but the plans had to be cancelled. Later, a founders badge was presented to the President. At the presentation, he said, “I am very glad to have this badge. My wife wears mine most of the time.”
This full size portrait of President Coolidge was painted by Ercole Cartotto. Although it is now at Phi Gamma Delta’s Headquarters, it was originally commissioned by the Xi Graduate Chapter for the Phi Gamma Delta Club in New York City. (Photo courtesy of Phi Gamma Delta)
On November 17, 1924, John, the Coolidges’ eldest and only living son, became a member of his father’s Phi Gamma Delta chapter at Amherst College. On Founders’ Day, May 1, 1925, FIJI Sires and Sons was organized. Its purpose is to “impress upon all fathers and sons, who are members of the fraternity, and in time upon their sons, a realization of the noble trinity of principles of the fraternity, with the hope that they may outrun the fervor of youth.” President Coolidge, Sire No. 1, signed the preamble of the organization.
President Coolidge throwing out the first pitch while his wife looks on.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory.
