Jump to content

Seven Society: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
link to W&M society
m Reverted 1 edit by Jrcla2 identified as vandalism to last revision by Tjarrett. (TW)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{otheruses4|a secret society at the University of Virginia|the [[College of William & Mary]] secret society|Seven Society (Order of the Crown and Dagger)}}
[[Image:Sevensociety.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The sign of the Seven Society on a plaque outside Old Cabell Hall]]
[[Image:Sevensociety.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The sign of the Seven Society on a plaque outside Old Cabell Hall]]


Revision as of 02:09, 15 September 2008

The sign of the Seven Society on a plaque outside Old Cabell Hall

The Seven Society (founded 1905)[1] is the most secretive of the University of Virginia's secret societies. Members are only revealed after their death, when a wreath of black magnolias in the shape of a "7" is placed at the gravesite, the bell tower of the University Chapel chimes seven times at seven-second intervals on the seventh dissonant chord when it is seven past the hour, and a notice is published in the University's Alumni News, and often in the Cavalier Daily. [2] The most visible tradition of the society is the painting of the logo of the society, the number 7 surrounded by the signs for alpha (A), omega (Ω), and infinity (∞), and sometimes several stars, upon many buildings around the grounds of the University.[3]

There is no clear history of the founding of the society. There is a legend that, of eight men who planned to meet for a card game, only seven showed up,[4] and they formed the society. Other histories claim that the misbehavior of other secret societies, specifically the Hot Feet (later the IMP Society), led University President Edwin A. Alderman to call both the Hot Feet and the Z Society into his office and suggest that a more "beneficial organization" was needed.[1]

The only known method to successfully contact the Seven Society is to place a letter at the Thomas Jefferson statue inside the University's historic Rotunda (accounts differ on the exact placement of the letter, either on the base or in the crook of the statue's arm).[5]

Philanthropic gifts

The group contributes financially to the University, announcing donations with letters signed only with seven astronomical symbols in the order: Earth, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, and Venus. Saturn is not included. The Society gives large monetary donations and scholarships to the University each year in quantities that include the number 7, e.g. $777 or $1,777. Significant past gifts to the University include the Seven Society Carillon in the UVA Chapel, donated in memory of deceased members of the society, and given with the request that there should be a toll of seven times seven bells on the passing of a member;[6] a memorial to past Seven Society members who gave their lives in World War I[7]; $17,777.77 for a loan fund in honor of University president John Lloyd Newcomb; the ceremonial mace carried in academic processions;[2] $10,777.77 in support of the re-establishment of Homecoming;[8] a plaque on the Rotunda honoring University students who died in the Korean War;[9] $47,777.77 for the making of a film on the honor system;[10] and $1 million in support of the University's South Lawn Project.[11]

In addition to granting spontaneous gifts, the Seven Society sponsors an annual $7,000 graduate fellowship award for superb teaching.[12]

File:Sevensocietywhite.jpg
The Seven Society sign in front of Maury Hall

Notable members

The Seven Society is unusual among University of Virginia secret societies in including members who were not students or alumni of the University. Notable examples include Mary Proffitt, secretary to Dean James M. Page and Dean Ivey F. Lewis;[13][14] and Ivey F. Lewis himself, a non-alumnus professor and longtime dean of students at the University.[15]

Several notable individuals whose Seven Society membership was disclosed at their death include:

Seven Society at other colleges/universities

There have been several secret societies with "seven" in their name. No connection between the societies has been shown, but there is at least some tradition in the use of the names.

One such secret society is the Seven Society (Order of the Crown and Dagger) known to exist at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The founding date of the William and Mary society is reported to have been as early as 1826.[20]

A second unrelated society was the Mystic Seven Fraternity, constituted in 1885,[21] of which the Virginia Temple of the Hands and Torch was the parent chapter. Prior to the Civil War, there had been a Mystical Seven Society, with several chapters across the South. One surviving group at Mississippi created a chapter at Virginia. That Virginia chapter later organized the Mystic Seven Fraternity, also calling the new organization Phi Theta Alpha. [22] Five years later the Mystic Seven Fraternity merged with Beta Theta Pi, with the Virginia chapter becoming the Omicron chapter of Beta Theta Pi. [23]

A third unrelated society, also called Mystical Seven, was founded in 1907 at the University of Missouri. It is often claimed that this society was directly inspired by the Seven Society at Virginia, (although no citations are given), but it took the older Mystical Seven name.

References

  1. ^ a b Ladt, Carroll (1968-02-07). "More Than $50,000 Awarded: Seven's History Of Gifts, Pranks Recalled". Cavalier Daily.
  2. ^ a b Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 305–306. ISBN 081390904X.
  3. ^ Dabney, 305.
  4. ^ Cooper, Patricia (2003-09-04). "A Mark to Remember". Cavalier Daily.
  5. ^ Hofler, Julie (2000-10-11). "Tall tales illuminate history of Jeffersonian landmark". Cavalier Daily.
  6. ^ Dedication of the Seven Society Carillon, 1957-1015, p. 3, retrieved 2008-01-06 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Dabney, 264.
  8. ^ Ondrey, Clare (2003-10-02). "Sevens finance homecoming committee". Cavalier Daily.
  9. ^ Dabney, 425.
  10. ^ Dabney, 544.
  11. ^ "University of Virginia Breaks Ground on South Lawn Project". UVA Today. 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  12. ^ "The Seven Society Graduate Fellowship for Superb Teaching". University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
  13. ^ "Women and University Life: Faculty and Staff, part 2". Women at the University of Virginia: Breaking and Making Tradition (UVA Library online exhibit). Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  14. ^ Dabney, 108.
  15. ^ Dabney, 415.
  16. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: The Aviator" (PDF). 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
  17. ^ Thomas, Evan (1996). The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684825384.
  18. ^ a b Johnson, Bill (1965-02-15), "Seven Society's Secret Still Secret", Washington Post, pp. C8
  19. ^ "In Memoriam". The University of Virginia Magazine. Summer 2007.
  20. ^ "Secret Seven Announces Members For Past Year" (PDF). The Flat Hat. 1942-03-18.
  21. ^ See University of Illinois fraternity archives at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/archives/uasfa/4102055.pdf
  22. ^ There is nothing to indicate that the post-Civil War Mystic Seven Fraternity had any real organic connection to the pre-Civil War Mystical Seven. The society's publication, The Mystic Messenger, published articles questioning why the society even had such a distinctive name.
  23. ^ Wyatt-Greene, Benjamin. "Mystical 7: A History". Wesleyan History Project. Retrieved 2008-06-20.

See also


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seven_Society&oldid=238491798"