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I’m fixing an error, one that I thought I’d caught when editing this page some years back. It’s about the fraternity memberships of “Prexy” Cyrus Northrop, second president of the University of Minnesota.
For some years, the Alpha Delta Phi chapter at Minnesota had been claiming him as a member. As a past University president, and a man much-loved by the students, he was of some renown. My guess is that it was an innocent error. I’d ‘’thought’’ the error was simple: Northrop was really an Alpha Sig, and his son was a Alpha Delt. But somehow I bobbled the reference back then, and now learn that the younger Northrop was a Deke, instead. And his famous father was both a Deke AND and an Alpha Sig. Here’s how it all worked out, with references:
Alpha Sigma Phi’s Minnesota chapter history on their national website claims that Northrop was an Alpha Sig, and curiously, a national officer of Alpha Sig around the year 1919, which would have been late in his life, ten years after he retired from the University. -He died in 1922 at the age of 88, making him 85 years old if he served that fraternity in 1919… So at first I doubted this linkage. But it’s true: Late in his life he served as National President for Alpha Sigma Phi. I’ve tracked this down with their national historian, who writes: "Cyrus Northrop was indeed an Alpha Sig in his sophomore year at Yale, initiated in 1854. He was Grand Senior President of Alpha Sigma Phi from 1915 to 1919. [1] It is likely that he was a Delta Kappa Epsilon or less likely an Alpha Delta Phi the following year, as those were two of the three Junior fraternities at Yale at the time…" [From personal correspondence in May 2020, given here because it includes a searchable reference.]
Digging further, the Dekes (Delta Kappa Epsilon) here at Minnesota, confirm in several sources that Northrop is theirs. --Both Northrops were. The son, Cyrus Northrop Jr. indeed had been a member of Deke at Minnesota, in 1893, and the father was a Deke at Yale decades prior. Tying it together, here is the historical evidence I have:
The first is a 1890 University of Minnesota yearbook, where “Prexy” - Northrop Sr’s record is as follows [my comments on this quote in brackets]:
That provided the first pass at all this.
So Prexy was a member of TWO national fraternities? Ah… At the time, this was legal (pre-NIC) and Yale societies operated under different rules: you’d join a new fraternity each year in those days. I found a further record, the Yale Sheffield Monthly, vol XX, for October 1913 to June 1914, which confirms the existence of those class societies at those times, noting which class they served at publication time (1913), and also noting that Alpha Delt AND Deke were listed as junior societies in 1913. It clarified that Alpha Delt was normally a junior society (thus unavailable to Northrop as a Sophomore), noting it was briefly dormant (1873-1888) and when it was a three-year society (1888 – 1895) - not while Northrop was an undergrad. (Only later, the national fraternities all shifted to today’s model of multi-year membership, with the senior “finishing clubs” like Skull and Bones, or Wolf’s Head remaining for upperclassmen only.) Alpha Sigma Phi was definitely listed, while Northrop was an undergrad, but as a sophomore society. So, from this reference it seems possible and indeed more probable that Northrup Sr. was an Alpha Sig, not an Alpha Delt. But that would mean there was a typo in at least one Minnesota yearbook from the 1890s. I started reading them.
The 1891 yearbook lists the son, Cyrus Northrop Jr. for the first time, among the freshman class. It did not list “Prexy’s” fraternities that year. [4]
The 1892 yearbook had a briefer mention. Northrup Sr’s listing in the 1892 yearbook omitted several of the groups, and ONLY lists Deke and Phi Beta Kappa. Perhaps for brevity. The books also show Cyrus Northrup Jr. on the Deke page listing. [5]
The 1893 yearbook is Alpha Delta Phi’s first listing as a new chapter at Minnesota, and they list several faculty and an earlier president (Folwell) who was a member, but NOT Northrup. Could the 1890 yearbook be wrong? Was he an Alpha Sig instead? [6]
The 1894 yearbook again notes Northrop Sr. to be a Deke, AND again mentions he was a Skull and Bonesman, AND member of Phi Beta Kappa. So if dropping Alpha Delt was an error, it was a persistent one. That 1894 yearbook also shows a picture of young Cyrus Jr., a member of the Junior class and a DEKE, listing this in several places. [7]
Skipping ahead, the 1923 yearbook, published over two decades later, has a "Cyrus Northrop" listed on the Alpha Sigma Phi page as a faculty member of that fraternity. This was published in 1922, the year Prexy Northrup died. The reference did not list whether this man was Junior or Senior. That same book lists Cyrus Northrop as a faculty member and a Deke, again, not notating whether it was Northrop Junior or Senior. A third fraternity, Delta Theta Phi professional Law fraternity, also lists a Cyrus Northrop as a faculty member. All three of these listings of the Northrop name vanish in the 1924 yearbook, telling me they intended to recognize Northrop SENIOR. In case you wonder, Alpha DELT does not mention him as a member that year, either. [9]
Finally, Deke’s alumni catalog lists BOTH father and son as members, in the 1900 edition of that book:
To wrap up, these memberships for Northrop Sr. are really on solid ground, from an historic perspective:
Obviously, Northrop loved fraternal organizations, his students and the University.
Regarding his son, Northrop JUNIOR, clearly, he was a Deke. I don’t believe there was a linkage for him with Alpha Delta Phi, either at Minnesota or elsewhere. He joined his father’s Third-year fraternity, as a legacy.
Since this issue generates occasional edits and questions, I thought I would go long on my answer, and show you the research. Comments welcome. Jax MN ( talk) 17:03, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
References
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I’m fixing an error, one that I thought I’d caught when editing this page some years back. It’s about the fraternity memberships of “Prexy” Cyrus Northrop, second president of the University of Minnesota.
For some years, the Alpha Delta Phi chapter at Minnesota had been claiming him as a member. As a past University president, and a man much-loved by the students, he was of some renown. My guess is that it was an innocent error. I’d ‘’thought’’ the error was simple: Northrop was really an Alpha Sig, and his son was a Alpha Delt. But somehow I bobbled the reference back then, and now learn that the younger Northrop was a Deke, instead. And his famous father was both a Deke AND and an Alpha Sig. Here’s how it all worked out, with references:
Alpha Sigma Phi’s Minnesota chapter history on their national website claims that Northrop was an Alpha Sig, and curiously, a national officer of Alpha Sig around the year 1919, which would have been late in his life, ten years after he retired from the University. -He died in 1922 at the age of 88, making him 85 years old if he served that fraternity in 1919… So at first I doubted this linkage. But it’s true: Late in his life he served as National President for Alpha Sigma Phi. I’ve tracked this down with their national historian, who writes: "Cyrus Northrop was indeed an Alpha Sig in his sophomore year at Yale, initiated in 1854. He was Grand Senior President of Alpha Sigma Phi from 1915 to 1919. [1] It is likely that he was a Delta Kappa Epsilon or less likely an Alpha Delta Phi the following year, as those were two of the three Junior fraternities at Yale at the time…" [From personal correspondence in May 2020, given here because it includes a searchable reference.]
Digging further, the Dekes (Delta Kappa Epsilon) here at Minnesota, confirm in several sources that Northrop is theirs. --Both Northrops were. The son, Cyrus Northrop Jr. indeed had been a member of Deke at Minnesota, in 1893, and the father was a Deke at Yale decades prior. Tying it together, here is the historical evidence I have:
The first is a 1890 University of Minnesota yearbook, where “Prexy” - Northrop Sr’s record is as follows [my comments on this quote in brackets]:
That provided the first pass at all this.
So Prexy was a member of TWO national fraternities? Ah… At the time, this was legal (pre-NIC) and Yale societies operated under different rules: you’d join a new fraternity each year in those days. I found a further record, the Yale Sheffield Monthly, vol XX, for October 1913 to June 1914, which confirms the existence of those class societies at those times, noting which class they served at publication time (1913), and also noting that Alpha Delt AND Deke were listed as junior societies in 1913. It clarified that Alpha Delt was normally a junior society (thus unavailable to Northrop as a Sophomore), noting it was briefly dormant (1873-1888) and when it was a three-year society (1888 – 1895) - not while Northrop was an undergrad. (Only later, the national fraternities all shifted to today’s model of multi-year membership, with the senior “finishing clubs” like Skull and Bones, or Wolf’s Head remaining for upperclassmen only.) Alpha Sigma Phi was definitely listed, while Northrop was an undergrad, but as a sophomore society. So, from this reference it seems possible and indeed more probable that Northrup Sr. was an Alpha Sig, not an Alpha Delt. But that would mean there was a typo in at least one Minnesota yearbook from the 1890s. I started reading them.
The 1891 yearbook lists the son, Cyrus Northrop Jr. for the first time, among the freshman class. It did not list “Prexy’s” fraternities that year. [4]
The 1892 yearbook had a briefer mention. Northrup Sr’s listing in the 1892 yearbook omitted several of the groups, and ONLY lists Deke and Phi Beta Kappa. Perhaps for brevity. The books also show Cyrus Northrup Jr. on the Deke page listing. [5]
The 1893 yearbook is Alpha Delta Phi’s first listing as a new chapter at Minnesota, and they list several faculty and an earlier president (Folwell) who was a member, but NOT Northrup. Could the 1890 yearbook be wrong? Was he an Alpha Sig instead? [6]
The 1894 yearbook again notes Northrop Sr. to be a Deke, AND again mentions he was a Skull and Bonesman, AND member of Phi Beta Kappa. So if dropping Alpha Delt was an error, it was a persistent one. That 1894 yearbook also shows a picture of young Cyrus Jr., a member of the Junior class and a DEKE, listing this in several places. [7]
Skipping ahead, the 1923 yearbook, published over two decades later, has a "Cyrus Northrop" listed on the Alpha Sigma Phi page as a faculty member of that fraternity. This was published in 1922, the year Prexy Northrup died. The reference did not list whether this man was Junior or Senior. That same book lists Cyrus Northrop as a faculty member and a Deke, again, not notating whether it was Northrop Junior or Senior. A third fraternity, Delta Theta Phi professional Law fraternity, also lists a Cyrus Northrop as a faculty member. All three of these listings of the Northrop name vanish in the 1924 yearbook, telling me they intended to recognize Northrop SENIOR. In case you wonder, Alpha DELT does not mention him as a member that year, either. [9]
Finally, Deke’s alumni catalog lists BOTH father and son as members, in the 1900 edition of that book:
To wrap up, these memberships for Northrop Sr. are really on solid ground, from an historic perspective:
Obviously, Northrop loved fraternal organizations, his students and the University.
Regarding his son, Northrop JUNIOR, clearly, he was a Deke. I don’t believe there was a linkage for him with Alpha Delta Phi, either at Minnesota or elsewhere. He joined his father’s Third-year fraternity, as a legacy.
Since this issue generates occasional edits and questions, I thought I would go long on my answer, and show you the research. Comments welcome. Jax MN ( talk) 17:03, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
References