Gamma Sigma
| Gamma Sigma | |
|---|---|
| ΓΣ | |
 | |
| Founded | October 11, 1869 Brockport Normal School |
| Type | Literary/Social |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Status | Active |
| Emphasis | Secondary |
| Scope | National |
| Motto | GNOTHI SOPHIAN (Seek Wisdom) |
| Member badge |  |
| Colors | Old rose and White |
| Publication | Pyramid & Crescent |
| Chapters | 2 active alumni; 119+ inactive secondary |
| Nickname | "Gams" |
| Headquarters | Canada |
| Website | gammasigmafraternityinternational |
Gamma Sigma Fraternity International (ΓΣ), initially founded as a literary society in 1869 at the Brockport Normal School in Brockport, New York, is known as the first international high school fraternity.[1] The organization no longer has active chapters at the secondary school level; however, it has an active alumni association based in the Greater Toronto Area and in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada.[2]
History
[edit]The Gamma Sigma Society was founded on October 11, 1869, by Professor Charles Donald McLean at the Brockport Normal School (known today as SUNY Brockport). Charles McLean was the principal for the first several decades of the normal school and helped establish one of the major elements of the school's culture, its Greek Letter Societies. These societies flourished at the school from 1869 to 1940.[3]
The society formed chapters at other schools, both normal[4] and high schools. At a convocation held in Brockport in June 1891, the chapters of Gamma Sigma formed themselves into a general fraternity.[5] The first chapter of Gamma Sigma Fraternity outside of New York State was chartered in Evanston, Illinois on November 24, 1894. It was the Eta chapter. [6]
The Gamma Sigma Fraternity was incorporated in New York State on May 1, 1907.[7]
By 1925, Gamma Sigma Fraternity had 26 chapters in eight states and the District of Columbia. Alpha Zeta chapter in Niagara Falls, Ontario, installed on December 11, 1927 at Niagara Falls Collegiate Institute, made it the first international secondary school fraternity in the world.[8]
On October 11, 2019, Gamma Sigma Fraternity International alumni gathered in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the organization. It had been 150 years to the day, since its founding.[9]
Symbols
[edit]The Gamma Sigma motto is GNOTHI SOPHIAN or "Seek Wisdom". Its colors are old rose and white. Its publication is the Pyramid & Crescent.
Related organizations
[edit]In 1871, five members of the Gamma Sigma Society at the State Normal School in Brockport, New York transferred to the newly formed normal school in Geneseo, New York and founded the Delphic Society.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Atkinson, Joseph W., Gamma Sigma: The First One Hundred Years - Centennial Publication of Gamma Sigma Fraternity (1969). Gamma Sigma Fraternity International Incorporated, Brockport, New York. https://archive.org/details/gammasigmafirsto00jose/mode/2up
- ^ Gamma Sigma Fraternity published a 2019 Reunion Ad, accessed 28 February 2022.
- ^ Noted in the History of the College at Brockport, accessed 28 February 2022.
- ^ "Normal" schools were developed as teachers training schools, appearing in the US by the 1850s through 1950s, and positioned as a practical option between technical/trade schools and more theoretical colleges and universities. Expansion of normal school degree offerings has led many of these to become junior colleges and then into state or regional universities, dropping the "Normal" moniker.
- ^ Mann, James, "Dedication of the New Building for the Practice School and Normal Hall" (1902). Papers on the History of the College at Brockport. 30. http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/student_archpapers/30
- ^ The Normalia student newspaper, Vol. VIII, No. 5, State Normal School, Brockport, NY, March 1908.
- ^ NYS Department of State, Division of Corporations https://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/
- ^ William G. Andrews with Eunice Chesnut, Mary Jo Gigliotti, Kathy Goetz, Hazel Kleinback, and Jennifer Quigley (2002). Around Brockport. Arcadia Publishing, New York. p. 113.
- ^ Niagara Frontier Publications event listing https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2019/05/30/137332/gamma-sigma-fraternity-international-anniversary-this-fall
- ^ Program of the literary exercises of the Gamma Sigma Society at Brockport, New York, June 1871, SUNY Brockport Archives.