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Scroll and Key
Founded1842; 182 years ago (1842)
Yale University
TypeFraternity
AffiliationIndependent
StatusActive
ScopeLocal
Member badge
Chapters1
NicknameKeys
Headquarters484 College Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511
United States

The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest.[1] The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with Skull and Bones and Wolf's Head.[2] Each spring the society admits 15 rising seniors to participate in its activities and carry on its traditions.

History

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Scroll and Key was established by John Addison Porter, with aid from several members of the Class of 1842 (including Leonard Case Jr. and Theodore Runyon) and a member of the Class of 1843 (William L. Kingsley), after disputes over elections to Skull and Bones Society. Kingsley is the namesake of the alumni organization, the Kingsley Trust Association (KTA), incorporated years after its founding.

Members of the 1866 delegation

Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg wrote that "up until as recent a date as 1860, Keys had great difficulty in making up its crowd, rarely being able to secure the full fifteen upon the night of giving out its elections." However, the society was on the upswing: "the old order of things, however, has recently come to an end, and Keys is now in possession of a hall far superior...not only to Bones hall, but to any college-society hall in America."[3]

In addition to financing its activities, Scroll and Key has made significant donations to Yale over the years. The John Addison Porter Prize, awarded annually since 1872, and in 1917 the endowment for the founding of the Yale University Press, which has funded the publication of The Yale Shakespeare and sponsored the Yale Younger Poets Series, are gifts from "Keys".

Traditions

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  • At the close of Thursday and Sunday sessions, members are known to sing the "Troubadour" song on the front steps of the Society's hall, a remnant of the tradition of public singing at Yale.[4][5] The song (written in the 1820s by Thomas Haynes Bayly) was recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford on his 1956 album, This Lusty Land, as "Gaily the Troubador".
  • In keeping with the practice of adopting secret letters or symbols such as Skull and Bones' "322," Manuscript's "344," and the Pundits' "T.B.I.Y.T.B," Scroll and Key is known to use the letters "C.S.P. and C.C.J."[6]
  • Members of the society sign letters to each other "YiT", as opposed to Skull and Bones' "yours in 322".[6]
  • Outside of its tap-related activities, the society has been known to hold two major annual events called "Z Session".[6]

Tomb

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Scroll and Key's tomb
Tomb during its expansion, 1901

The society's building, called a "tomb", was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1870.[7] A later expansion was completed in 1901. Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of Keys' building in his 1999 history of Yale's campus, relating the then-notable cost overruns associated with the Keys structure and its aesthetic significance within the campus landscape. Pinnell's history shares the fact that the land was purchased from another Yale secret society, Berzelius (at that time, a Sheffield Scientific School society).

Regarding the tomb's distinctive appearance, Pinnell noted that "19th-century artists' studios commonly had exotic orientalia lying about to suggest that the painter was sophisticated, well traveled, and in touch with mysterious powers; Hunt's Scroll and Key is one instance in which the trope got turned into a building."[8] Later, undergraduates described the building as a "striped zebra Billiard Hall" in a supplement to a Yale yearbook.[9] More recently, it has been described by an undergraduate publication as being "the nicest building in all of New Haven".[10]

Membership

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Scroll and Key taps annually a delegation of fifteen, composed of men and women of the junior class, to serve the following year. Membership is offered to a diverse group of highly accomplished juniors, specifically those who have "achieved in any field, academic, extra-curricular, or personal".[11] Delegations frequently include editors of the Yale Daily News and other publications, artists and musicians, social and political activists, athletes of distinction, entrepreneurs, and high-achieving scholars.[12][13]

Mark Twain was an honorary member, under the auspices of Joseph Twichell, Yale College Class of 1859.[14]

Notable members

[edit]
Dean Acheson
Fareed Zakaria
Sargent Shriver
Cole Porter
Calvin Trillin
Harvey Cushing
Garry Trudeau
Name Yale class Notability References
Leonard Case Jr. 1842 Founder of Case School of Applied Science, later Case Western Reserve University [15]
Theodore Runyon 1842 Envoy and Ambassador to Germany; Battle of Bull Run [15]
Carter Henry Harrison 1845 Mayor of Chicago and U.S. Representative [15]
Homer Sprague 1852 President of the University of North Dakota
Randall L. Gibson 1853 U.S. Senator, Confederate Brigadier-General, and president of Tulane University [15]
George Shiras Jr. 1853 U.S. Supreme Court Justice [15]
John Dalzell 1865 U.S. Congress [15]
George Bird Grinnell 1870 Anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer [16]
Edward Salisbury Dana 1870 American mineralogist [15]
Fred Dubois 1872 U.S. Senator [15]
Henry deForest 1876 Southern Pacific Railroad [15]
Gilbert Colgate 1883 President and Chairman of Colgate & Co. [15]
George Edgar Vincent 1885 President of the University of Minnesota; President of the Rockefeller Foundation [17]
James Gamble Rogers 1889 architect, designed many of Yale's buildings [17]
Herbert Parsons 1890 U.S. Congress [15]
Harvey Cushing 1891 Neurosurgeon, considered father of brain surgery [17]
William Nelson Runyon 1892 Acting Governor of New Jersey [15]
Frank Polk 1894 Secretary of State, Davis Polk & Wardwell, managed the conclusion to World War I [15]
Allen Wardwell 1895 Davis Polk & Wardwell; Bank of New York; Vice-President of the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce [15]
Lewis Sheldon 1896 Paris Peace Conference, Olympic medalist [15]
Cornelius Vanderbilt III 1895 Brigadier General in the U.S. Army during the World War I [17]
William Adams Delano 1895 architect; designed many of Yale's buildings [15]
Joseph Medill McCormick 1900 U.S. Senate and publisher of the Chicago Tribune [15]
Joseph M. Patterson 1901 Founder of the New York Daily News; manager of the Chicago Tribune [17]
Robert R. McCormick 1903 Chicago Tribune; Kirkland & Ellis[15] [15]
James C. Auchincloss 1908 U.S. Congress, Governor of the NYSE., US Military Intelligence World War I [15]
William C. Bullitt 1912 Ambassador to France, Ambassador to the Soviet Russia [15]
Mortimer R. Proctor 1912 Governor of Vermont [15]
Cole Porter 1913 Entertainer, songwriter [18]
Dean Acheson 1915 51st Secretary of State [15]
Wayne Chatfield-Taylor 1916 President, Export-Import Bank; Undersecretary of Commerce; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury [19]
Dickinson W. Richards 1917 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine [15]
Ethan A. H. Shepley 1918 Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis [15]
John Enders 1919 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine [15]
Brewster Jennings 1920 Founder and president of the Socony Mobil Oil Company Standard Oil of New York [15]
Seymour H. Knox 1920 American retailer, F. W. Woolworth Company [15]
Richardson Dilworth 1921 Mayor of Philadelphia [20]
William Hawks 1923 Film producer [21]
James Stillman Rockefeller 1924 President and chairman, The First National City Bank of New York; Olympic gold medal [15]
Huntington D. Sheldon 1925 Central Intelligence Agency; President of the Petroleum Corporation of America [15]
Newbold Morris 1925 New York lawyer and politician [15]
Benjamin Spock 1925 Pediatrician, author, and Olympic gold medalist [19]
John Hay Whitney 1926 U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of New York Herald Tribune [22]
Frederic A. Potts 1926 Chairman, Philadelphia National Bank; New Jersey Senate [15]
Paul Mellon 1929 Philanthropist [19]
Benjamin Brewster 1929 Director, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey (later Exxon) [15]
Raymond R. Guest 1931 U.S. Ambassador to Ireland; Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense [15]
Donald R. McLennan 1931 Founder and chairman, insurance brokerage firm Marsh McLennan [15]
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. 1933 Mayor of New York City [23]
J. Peter Grace 1936 W. R. Grace & Co.
Peter H. Dominick 1937 U.S. Senator, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland [24]
Sargent Shriver 1938 Peace Corps; Vice-Presidential Candidate, Presidential Medal of Freedom [15]
Cyrus Vance 1939 Secretary of State; Secretary of the Army; Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of New York [15]
Robert D. Orr 1940 Governor of Indiana; U.S. Ambassador to Singapore [15]
Cord Meyer, Jr. 1943 Central Intelligence Agency; United World Federalists [15]
George Roy Hill 1943 Academy Award for Directing The Sting [15]
Frederick B. Dent 1944 U.S. Secretary of Commerce [15]
John Vliet Lindsay 1944 Mayor of New York City, Congressman from New York City [23]
Thomas Enders 1953 Ambassador to Spain, Ambassador to European Union, Ambassador to Canada [15]
Philip B. Heymann 1954 Watergate Special Prosecutor, Deputy U.S. Attorney General; professor at Harvard Law School [15]
Warren Zimmermann 1956 U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, author [15]
Roscoe S. Suddarth 1956 President of the Middle East Institute; U.S. Ambassador to Jordan [15]
Calvin Trillin 1957 writer [25]
A. Bartlett Giamatti 1960 Yale University president; National League president, MLB Commissioner [19]
Peter Beard 1961

Photographer

Garry Trudeau 1970 Doonesbury cartoonist [19]
Stone Phillips 1977 Dateline NBC [15]
Rick E. Lawrence 1977 Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court [15]
Gideon Rose 1985 Foreign Affairs [15]
Fareed Zakaria 1986 editor of Newsweek and host of CNN show
Dave Baseggio 1989 Director of Professional Scouting for the Seattle Kraken
Dahlia Lithwick 1990 Editor at Newsweek and Slate [26]
Jeannie Rhee 1994 Special Council member for the Obstruction of Justice Investigation [27]
Alexandra Robbins 1998 Journalist [28]
Ari Shapiro 2000 Co-host of All Things Considered for National Public Radio [26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jackson, Abby. "7 of Yale's super-elite secret societies ranked by wealth". Business Insider. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Caro, Robert (1974). The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-48076-3. OCLC 834874.
  3. ^ Four years at Yale. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg, C.C. Chatfield & Co, 1871. p. 158.
  4. ^ Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti. James Reston, U of Nebraska Press, 1997. p. 41. ISBN 0-8032-8964-2
  5. ^ Four years at Yale. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg, C.C. Chatfield & Co, 1871. p. 163.
  6. ^ a b c Four years at Yale. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg, C.C. Chatfield & Co, 1871. p. 157.
  7. ^ "Scroll and Key Tomb". June 8, 2013.
  8. ^ Pinnell, Patrick (1999). The Campus Guide: Yale University. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-56898-167-3. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  9. ^ Andrews, John.History of the Founding of Wolf's Head, pg. 56, Lancaster Press, 1934
  10. ^ "Franco's "little place in New Haven": where will it be? [POLL]". yaleherald.com. May 6, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  11. ^ Yale University Library Digital Collections: Compound Object Viewer Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ http://www.ivygateblog.com/?s=scroll+and+key, see membership lists
  13. ^ A cross-reference with recent members (available on IvyGateBlog.com and in print issues of the Yale Rumpus) and scholarship winners will indicate the high number of Scroll and Key members
  14. ^ Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2, 1867–1868, University of California Press, editors Harriet E. Smith, Richard Bucci and Lin Salamo, pg. 281
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Giamatti, A. Bartlett (1978). History of Scroll and Key, 1942–1972. The Scroll and Key Society.
  16. ^ Taliaferro, John (June 4, 2019). Grinnell: America's Environmental Pioneer and His Restless Drive to Save the West. Liveright. ISBN 978-1-63149-014-9.
  17. ^ a b c d e HP-Time.com Monday, May. 31, 1926 (May 31, 1926). "Wedlock — TIME". Time. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Robbins, Alexandra (2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-73561-2.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Yale's Great Oak Sees 'Tap Day' Again". The New York Times. May 21, 1915. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  20. ^ "Tap Day Exercises are held at Yale" (PDF). New York Times. May 20, 1921. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  21. ^ "Yale 'Tap Day' Brings Honors to Rowing Men". New York Tribune. New York, N.Y. May 18, 1923. p. 9.
  22. ^ "Yale Alumni Magazine: John Hay Whitney". Yale Alumni Publications inc. May 2002. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  23. ^ a b "Mary A. Harrison, Lawyers Fiance. Vassar Graduate Will Be Bride of John V. Lindsay, Former Lieutenant in the Navy". New York Times. October 11, 1948. p. 29. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  24. ^ "J. Peter Grace — Business Executive, leading Catholic layman, Advisor to three U.S. Presidents — dies at age 81. | Government > Government Bodies & Offices from AllBusiness.com". Allbusiness.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  25. ^ Remembering Denny – Google Books
  26. ^ a b "Archived copy". www.ctrl.org. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ "Jeannie Rhee". Diversity Journal. Retrieved 2018-01-19, January 30, 2019
  28. ^ "Skull & Bones: The Secret Society That Unites John Kerry and President Bush". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
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