4 Secret Societies You (Probably) Don't Know About

4 Secret Societies You (Probably) Don't Know About
by Stefanie Becker

Flat Hat Club

Formed in 1750 at William and Mary College, F.H.C. was the nation's first secret society. The "Flat Hat Club" was a name given to the group by outsiders, likely because of the mortarboard caps they wore (caps that we now wear at graduations). F.H.C.'s initials stood for Latin words, but it is uncertain what they were. Some believe them to be "Fraternitas Humanitas Cognitioque" meaning "Brotherhood, Humanity, and Knowledge." The society met regularly at Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg for drinking and discussion. They were not known for scholarly pastimes; the most famous known member, Thomas Jefferson, wrote in a letter that the society "served no useful object." F.H.C. seemed to die within two decades of its founding due to the Civil War but has seen recent revivals.

When membership and interest waned in F.H.C. in the 1770's, P.D.A. (now referred to as Phi Delta Alpha but called "Please Don't Ask" at the time) imitated F.H.C. and established themselves as a secret society to take its place. A student at the college, John Heath, was repeatedly refused entry, and so in retaliation he created the first Greek-letter fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, which later spawned chapters in other colleges. Ta-da! Greek Life!

Seven Society

Order of the Bull's Blood

Eucleian Society

The Eucleian Society was one of the most progressive, supporting gender equality, abolition, and Native Americans' rights. They printed two publications of their own, The Medly and the Knickerbocker, with articles lampooning and satirizing current events and people. Both became popular well beyond campus. Despite all of this, interest in the Society died down. Members were branded social elitists, and membership diminished as Greek fraternities gained prominence. In current years, the Society has opened up to those without University affiliation. A notable member of the Eucleian Society is John Harvey Kellogg, who invented corn flakes cereal with his brother, as well as Major Walter Reed, MD, a U.S. army physician who confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes.

What secret societies did (do?) your schools have? Better yet, any secret society members that can spill juicy details?

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