The Owl Club is an all-male
final club at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
founded in 1896.
History
The Owl Club was founded in 1896 by Reginald Mansfield Johnson, Malcolm Scollay Greenough, Jr., Frazier Curtis, Preston Player, Charles Clifford Payson, Austen Fox Riggs, and Dudley Hall Bradlee, Jr. Originally established as a secret society, the Club held its meetings in Cambridge's Polo Club Alley before purchasing land on the corner of Holyoke Street and Holyoke Place in 1901.
In 1905, architect
James Purdon
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
of Purdon & Little drew up plans for the
Georgian clubhouse, and on June 24 of that year the cornerstone of the present clubhouse was laid. The new building was formally opened on March 24, 1906, the tenth anniversary of the Club.
In 1916, it was voted to officially change the name from “Phi Delta Psi Club” to “Owl Club”. The club had become known as The Owl as an abbreviation of its Greek name, Ἀυλὸς χαὶ Ἔκπωμα.
Notable members
*
Archibald C. Coolidge '87 — Harvard professor and diplomat (Honorary Member).
*
Robert W. Bliss '00 — American diplomat (Honorary Member).
*
Edward B. Cole
Edward Ball Cole (September 23, 1879 - June 18, 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during World War I. He was a leading expert on machine guns; he was killed in action during the Battle of Belleau Wood.
Biography
Cole was born ...
'02 — United States Marine Corps Major, expert on machine guns, casualty at the
Battle of Belleau Wood
*
Harry Elkins Widener '07 — Benefactor and namesake,
Widener Library
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, housing some 3.5million books in its "vast and cavernous" stacks, is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries (the libraries of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences) and, more broadly, of the ...
of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
; casualty on the wreck of the
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
ocean liner.
*
George Minot, '08 — Winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
*
George Biddle, '08 — American muralist and painter.
*
Hanford MacNider, '11 —
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
Lieutenant General and
Assistant Secretary of War.
*
Bobby Jones, '24 — Amateur golfer and winner of the
Grand Slam in 1930; Founder of
Augusta National Golf Club and the
Masters Tournament.
*
William Gurdon Saltonstall
William Gurdon Saltonstall (December 22, 1831 – July 21, 1889) was an American naval officer during the U.S. Civil War and a prominent merchant.
Early life
Saltonstall was born on December 22, 1831, in Salem, Massachusetts, into the prominent S ...
, '28 — American educator, ninth Principal of
Phillips Exeter Academy.
*
Theodore Roosevelt III, '36 — Grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt.
*Robert G. Stone, Jr., '45-'47 — Former Chairman of the
Harvard Corporation.
*
J. William Middendorf
John William Middendorf II (born September 22, 1924) is a former Republican United States diplomat and Secretary of the Navy.
Education and military service
John William Middendorf II received a Bachelor of Naval Science (BNS) degree from Col ...
, III, '47 — U.S.
Secretary of the Navy from 1974 to 1977; U.S. Ambassador to the
Netherlands
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and
Organization of American States.
*
Edward "Ted" Kennedy, '54-'56 — U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.
*
Richard Darman
Richard Gordon "Dick" Darman (May 10, 1943January 25, 2008) was an American businessman and government official who served in senior positions during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
Early life
Darman was born in Charlotte ...
, '64 — Senior Advisor to Presidents
Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush.
*
Sean M. Healey, '70 — Founder, Chairman, and Former CEO of
AMG.
*
Charles Hamlin, '70 — Member of 1968 US Olympic rowing team.
*
Ford M. Fraker
Ford M. Fraker (1948 – September 4, 2017) was a and American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.He was president of the Middle East Policy Council and chairman, Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Career highlights
Prior t ...
, '71 — U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; President of the
Middle East Policy Council
The Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that produces analysis and commentary on issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It was founded in 1981 under the stated miss ...
.
*
Richard Cashin, '75 — Member of 1976 US Olympic rowing team.
*
Christopher Wood, '75 — Member of 1976 US Olympic rowing team.
*
Alan Shealy
Alan Shealy (born August 15, 1953) is an American rower. He competed in the men's eight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge ...
, '75 — Member of 1976 US Olympic rowing team.
*
Charles Veley, '87 — World's most-traveled man.
*
Cole Toner, '16, American football offensive guard. Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft
*
Raymond McGuire, '79, American businessman and political candidate who worked as an executive at Citigroup
*
Thomas Foley, '75, American politician and business man, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from 2006 to 2009
*
Adam Fox, '20, American professional ice hockey defense man for the New York Rangers. 2021 winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman
Rupert Hitzig '60 ,American director, producer, actor, and screenwriter who produced The Last Dragon (1985), Jaws 3 (1983), and The Squeeze (1987) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Hitzig
Andrew Cadiff'77, American producer and television director who directed Chasing Liberty
Tommy Lee Jones '69,American actor, Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Fugitive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Lee_Jones
Notes
References
* Owl Club of Harvard College, Membership Directory, 1998, Puritan Press, New Hampshire
Further reading
*
Burggraf, Charles H.''The Owl club; a comedy drama in three acts, satirizing secret societies'' Albany, OR
Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Ben ...
: Smiley, printer, 1900.
* ''Owl Club of Harvard College: founded in 1896'', Crimson Printing Co., 1966
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Harvard University
Collegiate secret societies
Student societies in the United States
Clubs and societies in the United States
Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1896 establishments in Massachusetts
Student organizations established in 1896