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Lambda
Iota Society's Arcana Boasts A Proud History
By John Thomas '98
House Historian
Anyone attending
the annual meeting saw how the Arcana continues to reveal
documents that challenge the legendary history of the society.
Materials found that day have forced a revision of certain
popular beliefs about the society and added a new chapter
to an already remarkable 165-year history.
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Rather than diminishing
legends or traditions, thorough examination of the Arcana is bringing
a richer, more complex past into focus. For those of you who have
told me that you often looked at the Arcana from a distance but
never actually waded into its mysteries, the following tells a small
part of its story.
Like the society, the
contents of the Arcana span 165 years, although the collection actually
began in 1839 with the founding of the Lorillard Institute. Benjamin
Jewett Tenney wrote the first anonymous communication in the summer
of 1839, an essay on smoking that included the first reference to
Owls. It was published in the Burlington Sentinel several months
before the Lorillard Institute was founded.
The ever-growing collection of literary productions and official
records was stored in a box and carted from meeting to meeting,
becoming increasingly disorganized with each year. The first effort
to organize and index the collection took place in the late 1850s
at the advice of the society's first historian, James Noble.
In the late 1840s, records
of Phylos Kapnon, including the original charter, the (1836) articles
of rebellion, and a year-and-a-half of scribe's records, were given
to Lambda Iota for inclusion in the Arcana. The documents, donated
by different members of the founding 13, resulted in a new understanding
of the society's history. Young Owls learned how the Lorillard
Institute and Lambda Iota were products of the earlier organization,
information acknowledged or understood by few Owls prior to 1850.
Until that time most of the men who are today called the "original
13" were primarily known as honorary members of the Lorillard
Institute.
By 1855, the Arcana
had become such a valued component of the society that the state
charter of Lambda Iota written that same year included a special
section on the preservation of the collection in the event of the
society's closure. It ordered the university to set aside a space
in its library for preservation of the collection for use by Owl
alumni. This ensured that the society would not be erased from the
institutional history, something the faculty would have been pleased
to see.
Although the Arcana
has always been at the center of the society, it has not been valued
in the same way by each generation. In fact, for some brothers in
the late nineteenth century the record of the Owls had become something
of an albatross. For example, in the late 1870s one brother proposed
burning the entire collection so the society would have more space
for meetings and would not have the burden of preservation.
Shortly after that blasphemous
suggestion, John Converse commissioned the large cabinet that still
holds papers in its cubbies. In those days, the materials in the
Arcana were often used to justify different paths for the society.
On one hand, old documents supported the argument that the founders
were intoxicated rebels, an interpretation that justified the same
behavior by the Owls of the 1880s. The same documents in the hands
of other Owls could be interpreted as evidence of the founders'
scholarship, creativity, and principled independence.
Although that argument
(scholarship vs. inebriation) and the Arcana itself continued to
grow, the general perusal of the old materials declined after the
1890s. The flowing script, classically inspired subject matter,
and political humor of the 1830s, '40s, and '50s had become increasingly
opaque with each decade. By 1900, the antiquarians read at meetings
were rarely more than five years old. Within the next few years
access to the Arcana came under the control of the newly created
Fifth Degree, a development that thwarted open exploration of the
collection (by non-Fifths), but helped preserve the collection for
use today.
The Past
Revisited: History of The Nest's Renovations
Some wonder about the
history of the Owl house—has it only recently been in need
of major renovation? Indeed not. There have been at least five significant
renovations since 1913. One of the largest occurred in 1954 following
several years of hard usage after World War II. A fire in the '80s
led to the house's being closed for several months while major repairs
took place. And, there was the famous time when Lyman Rowell almost
single-handedly caused a change in Owlish behavior with resulting
significant change in the physical plant.
Different generations
of Owls have inherited the house in differing states of repair.
And those different generations treated the place with differing
levels of stewardship. At times there was a board of governors having
at its disposal resources ample to keep the house in tiptop shape.
Other boards were constrained by severe financial shortfalls resulting
in deferred maintenance.
With ample input from
other Owls, the current board decided that this is the time to make
renovations that will be longer lasting than others may have been.
Not only will money be raised for much-needed repairs and upgrades,
but also it will be raised to fund an ongoing maintenance program.
New written agreements have been put in place to assure that those
who become Owls and who use the house fully understand their responsibilities
vis-a-vis the facility and their peers. The decision to employ a
live-in house manager further emphasizes the board's commitment.
