Zeta Chapter of Illinois
In Self-trust all the virtues are comprehended. Free should the scholar be—free and brave.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson: The American Scholar, 1837
Phi Beta Kappa was founded on December 5, 1776, at the
college of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
It was the first society to have a Greek letter name, and in its initial
period at William and Mary it introduced the essential characteristics of such
societies—an oath of secrecy, a badge, mottoes in Latin and Greek, a code of
laws, an elaborate form of initiation, a seal, and a special handclasp.
Foremost among the founders were John Heath, the first president, and William Short , who was active in the plan to expand by granting charters. They and many others of the 50 early members soon distinguished themselves in public life. More than one-fourth of the members served with the Revolutionary forcers and nearly one-third became members of the Virginia Legislature. Theodore Roosevelt, John Quincy Adams, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Franklin D. Roosevelt have also been a part of Phi Beta Kappa
Present day members include Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, former American Red Cross president Elizabeth Dole, Football head coach Marv Levy, authors Michael Chrichton and John Updike, composer Stephen Sondheim and film director Francis Ford Coppola.
Visit Our National Web Site: http://www.pbk.org