Established in 1908, The Order of Myth and Sword is the last

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

founded in the

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The organisation was first formed as "Vernon Hall", a three-year society bearing the Greek letters Phi Gamma Delta (like other "Sheff" societies, such as

Book and Snake The Society of Book and Snake (incorporated as the Stone Trust Corporation) is the fourth oldest secret society at Yale University and was the first society to induct women into its delegation. Book and Snake was founded at the Sheffield Scientif ...

"Sigma Delta Chi", and St. Elmo "Delta Phi"). Today, each new delegation of the Society is elected to membership at the end of the junior year. Membership of the Society is reputedly based on character, and achievements in the field of

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

in accordance with the Order's mission and values.

About

At the beginning of the 20th century,

was divided into two separate administrative departments: the "Academic" (for arts and humanities), and the

for the sciences and engineering. In the "Sheff" (as it was known), undergraduate social life was centred around eight clubs, that exerted considerable influence throughout the University as a whole. Vernonhalltomb

"Vernon Hall" first began its history in 1880 as a University fraternity, a chapter of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

. In 1908, its membership became exclusively open to members of the

, where it continued to operate until financial difficulties that began with the implementation of the

residential college A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...

system after 1933, led to the closure of the society in 1965. Revived in the early 1990s under a newly-styled name, "the Order of Myth and Sword", the organisation continues to this day as a senior secret society. This process occurred alongside the refounding of several older Yale societies, such as

Mace and Chain Mace and Chain is an "Ancient Eight" society, or one of the eight landed secret societies, at Yale University. It was founded in 1956 with the mission of providing fifteen rising seniors with the traditional senior society experience in a freer, m ...

and

Torch Honor Society The Torch Honor Society was founded on March 8, 1916 in order to recognize merit and achievement on the part of undergraduate students of Yale College. Each Spring, the society elected ten juniors on the basis of outstanding achievement in Univers ...

. Like other senior societies at Yale, Myth and Sword conducts meetings on Thursday and Sunday evenings. A central activity of the group is the "bio," in which each member takes one evening to relay their life story and personal development to the rest of the group. After the refounding of the Order, it was unique in automatically considering women for election to the society's ranks following their admission to the University at large in 1969. The society's original home was an Egyptian Revival building located at 416 Temple Street. This building was later sold to the University, and eventually demolished in 1927, to make way for the construction of Helen Hadley Hall. Like most other "Sheff" societies then, Phi Gamma Delta maintained both a residential house in addition to the "tomb" meeting space. The original residence can be found at the corner of Temple and Grove Street in New Haven, where it was built by Phi Gamma Delta in 1915. From 1944 to 1954, the society occupied the "Old Hall" building first constructed for

Wolf's Head Society Wolf's Head Society is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key. Active undergraduate membership is elected annual ...

on Prospect Street.

References

{{reflist Secret societies at Yale 1903 establishments in the United States

About

See also

References