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The Creation of a National Fraternity (1917 - 1928)

A time when Alumni and Faculty members united in building a National Organization through spreading the purpose of the Fraternity to new campuses.

1917	First picture of Alpha Chapter appears in the Rhetor, the Warrensburg State Normal School yearbook. Alpha 1917 Alpha Chapter attempts to start another chapter of Phi Sigma Pi at Northeast Missouri State Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri. The letter Beta is reserved for the chapter, but the attempt fails. Alpha Chapter celebrates its first anniversary. The concept of holding an annual Founder's Day is born. Theta Founder's Day 1936
1918	As the United States mobilizes for war, many of the men on the Warrensburg campus go off to military training camps throughout the country or to the European front. Many of the Warrensburg men become part of a military emergency medical team known as the Ambulance Boys. This group forms a very close relationship and many of its members belong to Phi Sigma Pi and Sigma Tau Gamma. In the photo, Thayer, Diefendorf, Bigelow, Doak and Willibrand were already members of Phi Sigma Pi. Hoback and Ellis would join Phi Sigma Pi after the war. Hoback, Ellis, Grannert and Parsons would form Sigma Tau Gamma after the war. All campus organizations, including Phi Sigma Pi, would struggle with membership until the war ended in 1920. Phi Sigma Pi would only induct a total of 8 men in 1918 and 1919. Alpha 1918 Ambulance Boys 1918
1919	Dr. Sheldon Davis, a faculty member at Warrensburg, was invited to deliver the Founder's Day address at Alpha Chapter in 1919 and became one of its first honorary members. He left Warrensburg later in 1919 and became president of the State Normal College in Dillon, Montana. This is now known as the University of Montana - Western. He continued to serve Phi Sigma Pi as the Regional Director of the Western District. The normal college became a four-year school in 1931. Dr. Davis served as president until 1946. Davis Hall is named after him. Davis Davis Hall
1920	Joseph V. Hanna, an alumnus of the chapter at Warrensburg, accepts a faculty position at Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Peoria Illinois. This is now known as Bradley University. Mr. Hanna, along with professors Albert F. Siepert and Leroy P. Elliott, convince the faculty to start a chapter of Phi Sigma Pi. Hanna Bradley Campus Emmett Ellis, Alpha 43, a 29 year old Warrensburg student who has just returned from WWI along with his hometown classmate Leland Hoback and more than a dozen other students found Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, a social fraternity for men on the Warrensburg campus. Ellis and Hoback are both inducted into Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi on June 28, 1920, Alpha 43 and Alpha 42, respectively. Both Ellis and Hoback organize the Alpha Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma along with 15 other members on the exact same day. The faculty at Warrensburg does not recognize Sigma Tau Gamma until July 10, 1920. On the north wall of the lobby entrance to the Warrensburg Administration Building there is a bronze tablet inscribed with the name Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, the organization date and the names of its seventeen student founders. Dr. Hendricks was again instrumental in persuading the faculty to accept another fraternity on Warrensburg campus. Ellis would serve as the first elected National President of Sigma Tau Gamma from 1925 to 1927. He would attend graduate school and later return to Warrensburg to serve as a professor of mathematics. He would serve as the advisor of Alpha Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma for many years. He also served as advisor of Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi on several occasions from the 1930's to the 1950's. He continued to participate in Phi Sigma Pi events, the latest documented being the 1957 National Convention held on the Warrensburg Campus. In 1963, Sigma Tau Gamma awards the first Emmett Ellis Chapter Scholarship Award which recognizes chapters that achieve intellectual excellence. Dr. Ellis dies in 1972. Ellis Sigma Tau Gamma Sigma Tau Gamma Plaque Alpha Chapter begins the tradition of inviting eligible candidates to join Phi Sigma Pi. Although the form has changed over the years, the common element is that Phi Sigma Pi proactively reaches out to those qualified for membership and attempts to have them join. The evolution can be seen in Dr. Richard Todd's 1937 invitation letter, Jeffrey Johnson's 1984 invitation letter and a 1990 invitation letter from the National Office used to reactivate Mu Chapter. Alpha Invitation 1920's
1921	The second chapter of Phi Sigma Pi was founded on April 23 with three faculty members, three seniors and three juniors. It has also been claimed that May 2, 1921 was the founding date. There is controversy as to which date is correct. This chapter would be named Gamma Chapter. Gamma 1921 Gamma 1931 Gamma 1934 Gamma 1941
1922	The National Constitution is developed and National Officers are elected for the first time. National Officers serve for two-year terms. Alpha Chapter fills all National Officer positions until 1925. The first National Officers are Joseph Glen Bryan, Alpha 28, President; J. A. Leach, Alpha 5, Vice President; James M. McCallister, Alpha 33, Secretary; and Buel B. Cramer, Alpha 48, Treasurer. The other officers, if any, are unknown. The constitution creates the Biennial Conclave of the Grand Chapter. This Conclave, now typically referred to as a Convention, brings the fraternity together every two years to conduct business. National Constitution Bryan Leach McCallister
1925	The third chapter of Phi Sigma Pi is established on May 2 at Kansas State Teachers College, now Pittsburg State University. This chapter was named Delta Chapter. Andrew Harmon Whitesitt, who was head of the industrial arts department, was instrumental in establishing the Delta Chapter. He was elected National Treasurer in 1925, a post he would hold for ten years until 1935. Whitesitt Hall, the second oldest building on the Pittsburg State University campus, is named in his honor. Whitesitt Pittsburg Campus Delta 1931 Delta 1935 Ralph C. Bedell, a February 4, 1925 initiate of Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi and also a member of Alpha Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma, serves as National Counselor of Phi Sigma Pi from 1925 to 1928. He was also a delegate to the First National Conclave of Sigma Tau Gamma in 1925 and served as their National Grand Historian from 1927 to 1935. Bedell, who returned to teach at Warrensburg and who would later emerge as a nationally recognized professor of education at the University of Missouri, holds the distinction of being the only known Alpha Chapter Brother of both Phi Sigma Pi and Sigma Tau Gamma to serve both organizations as a National Officer. Bedell died in 1991. Bedell
1928	Rolla F. Wood, Alpha 39, is elected National President. Initiated into Alpha Chapter on October 24, 1919, Wood is credited with galvanizing the National Officers into a cohesive unit and capitalizing on this unity for expansion and increased services for member chapters. Wood would go on to serve as a National Officer until 1935. Wood would serve as advisor to Alpha Chapter between the 1930's and 1950's. Wood Building on the Warrensburg campus is named in his honor. Wood Wood Building Rolla F. Wood uses his contacts formed during graduate school to establish the fourth chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, the Epsilon Chapter at George Peabody Teachers College, on August 16. George Peabody is now part of Vanderbilt University. Peabody Campus Lawrence Nathaniel Pease, an alumnus of the chapter at Warrensburg and a faculty member at Eastern State Teachers College from 1919 to 1952, organizes the Zeta Chapter in July along with three other faculty members. One of the members was E. C. Higbie, president of the school and eventually Regional Director for Phi Sigma Pi. Higbie Hall is named after this Brother. For unknown reasons, the chapter would not be chartered until over a year later. Mr. Pease served as a National Officer from 1927 to 1939. Mr. Pease was a long-time member of the faculty in charge of the Industrial Arts Department. He also served as Dean of Students. The school changed its name in 1947 to General Beadle State Teachers College after its third president. The General Beadle State College sign on the southwest corner of the Campus was purchased with contributions given to the College in memory of Lawrence N. Pease. The school is now known as Dakota State University. Pease Dakota Campus Zeta 1929 Pease Memorial Higbie Hall

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