historic readings

Samuel Eells - Our Fearless Leader
His first American ancestor bearing the family name was John Eells, who migrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony from the West of England three hundred years ago in 1632, settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was a freeman of the Colony and a prosperous farmer, but when the Long Parliament met in England in 1640 John Eells, that stern old Puritan, sniffed the coming battle from afar, sold all he owned for whatever price it would bring, and sailed back to England to take up arms for his religion, carrying with him his son Samuel, the "suckling child" a few weeks old. John never returned to America, but his son Samuel (from whom our Samuel was named) came back to his native Colony in 1661, and soon displayed marked ability and energy. He practiced "the notable profession of the law," and moreover was merchant, miller, selectman, Town Clerk, and often a Deputy in the General Court of Connecticut, as well as "a Major in the Regiment," fighting with distinction against the Indians in King Philip's War. From him our Samuel loved to trace his descent through an unbroken line of four clergymen from father to son, each a graduate of Harvard or Yale. Three ruled New England Parishes piously and well, but the fourth, Samuel's father, glowed with missionary zeal, and followed the call of duty into the wilderness to Westmoreland in this County of Oneida, where he was pastor of the Congregational Church. Read More...

The History of the Fraternity System
Harvard, the first American college and prototype for the entire American college system, was patterned after the colleges of England. Harvard copied every English custom it was possible to copy: the dormitory (or commons) system of living, the classical curriculum, the degree requirements, and the strict student discipline. If Harvard had been patterned after the continental universities, which had no resident students, there might never have been a reason for establishing fraternities. Read More...

The History of the Alpha Delta Phi
In 1830 the literary societies of Hamilton College, called the Phoenix and the Philopeuthian, were engaged in a bitter fight for supremacy. Methods were employed to obtain adherents, and practices sanctioned to gain the ends of the organizations until the better portion of the students looked on in disgust at the conflict. Samuel Eells, then a student at Hamilton, was one of those who were disgusted with the partisan practices of the literary societies. He nearly determined to join neither, but such was the pressure brought to bear by these groups that he finally gave his name to the Philopeuthian, in order to escape "importunity and persecution." Read More...

The History of Co-Education in the Alpha Delta Phi
The induction of women into the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity has been a matter of heated debate for 25 years. Though as many as eight chapters have admitted women in the past, five coed chapters have recently separated from the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity to form the Alpha Delta Phi Society. Campus administration pressures, moral beliefs, and the need to attract more members are several reasons why chapters have chosen to accept women. Read More...