The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at

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 ...

, in

New Haven, Connecticut 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 ...

. It is one of the oldest

Yale secret societies There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate ''secret society'' makes significant effort to keep affairs, membership r ...

and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

and Wolf's Head. Each spring the society admits fifteen rising seniors to participate in its activities and carry on its traditions.

History

Yale Scroll and Key Facade with gate and forecourt

Scroll and Key was established by

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Acad ...

, with aid from several members of the Class of 1842 (including

Leonard Case Jr. Leonard Case Jr. (January 27, 1820 – January 6, 1880) was a philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio, who endowed the Case School of Applied Science (later Case Institute of Technology, merging with Western Reserve University to become Case Wester ...

and Theodore Runyon) and a member of the Class of 1843 (William L. Kingsley), after disputes over elections to

Skull and Bones Society Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. Kingsley is the namesake of the alumni organization, the Kingsley Trust Association (KTA), incorporated years after the founding. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg wrote that "up until as recent a date as 1860, Keys had great difficulty in making up its crowd, rarely being able to secure the full fifteen upon the night of giving out its elections." However, the society was on the upswing: "the old order of things, however, has recently come to an end, and Keys is now in possession of a hall far superior...not only to Bones hall, but to any college-society hall in America."

Gifts to Yale

In addition to financing its own activities, Scroll and Key has made significant donations to Yale over the years. The

John Addison Porter Prize The John Addison Porter Prize is a literary award given annually by Yale University to the best work of scholarship in any field "where it is possible, through original effort, to gather and relate facts or principles, or both, and to present the ...

, awarded annually since 1872, and in 1917 the endowment for the founding of the

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, which has funded the publication of The Yale

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and sponsored the Yale Younger Poets Series, are gifts from "Keys".

Traditions

* At the close of Thursday and Sunday sessions, members are known to sing the "

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

" song on the front steps of the Society's hall, a remnant of the tradition of public singing at Yale. The song (written in the 1820s by

Thomas Haynes Bayly Thomas Haynes Bayly (13 October 1797 – 22 April 1839) was an English poet, songwriter, dramatist and writer. Life Bayly was born in Bath on 13 October 1797, the only child of Nathaniel Bayly, an influential citizen of Bath: he was related ...

) was recorded by

Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...

on his 1956 album, ''This Lusty Land'', as "Gaily the Troubador". * In keeping with the practice of adopting secret letters or symbols such as

' "322,"

Manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

's "344," and the Pundits' "T.B.I.Y.T.B," Scroll and Key is known to use the letters "C.S.P. and C.C.J."''Four years at Yale''. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg, C.C. Chatfield & co, 1871. p. 157. * Members of the society sign letters to each other "YiT", as opposed to Skull and Bones' "yours in 322". * Outside of its tap-related activities, the society has been known to hold two major annual events called "Z Session".

Membership

Scroll and Key 1866 delegation Yale College

Scroll and Key taps annually a delegation of fifteen, composed of men and women of the junior class, to serve the following year. Membership is offered to a diverse group of highly accomplished juniors, specifically those who have "achieved in any field, academic, extra-curricular, or personal." Delegations frequently include editors of the ''

Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consis ...

'' and other publications, artists and musicians, social and political activists, athletes of distinction, entrepreneurs, and high achieving scholars.

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

is an honorary member, under the auspices of

Joseph Twichell Reverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell (November 30, 1838 – December 20, 1918) was a writer and Congregational minister from Hartford, Connecticut. He was a close friend of writer Mark Twain for over forty years and is believed to be the model for th ...

, Yale College Class of 1859.

Architecture

The society's "building" was designed in the

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

style by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1870. A later expansion was completed in 1901. Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of Keys' building in his 1999 history of Yale's campus, relating the then-notable cost overruns associated with the Keys structure and its aesthetic significance within the campus landscape. Pinnell's history shares the fact that the land was purchased from another Yale secret society, Berzelius (at that time, a

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. Sheffiel ...

society). In 2002, the society underwent a major construction project rumored to involve an aquarium beneath the society. Regarding its distinctive appearance, Pinnell noted that "19th century artists' studios commonly had exotic orientalia lying about to suggest that the painter was sophisticated, well traveled, and in touch with mysterious powers; Hunt's Scroll and Key is one instance in which the trope got turned into a building." Later, undergraduates described the building as a "striped zebra Billiard Hall" in a supplement to a Yale yearbook. More recently, it has been described by an undergraduate publication as being "the nicest building in all of New Haven.".

Notable members

References

{{Authority control Secret societies at Yale 1842 establishments in Connecticut Student organizations established in 1842 Secret societies in the United States