Warren Albert Cole (November 15, 1889 – December 29, 1968) was an American businessman and lawyer and is known as the founder of

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

Fraternity.

Early life and education

Cole was born in 1889 in Swansea, Massachusetts, the son of Albert Warren Cole and Mary Horton Nichols.Warren A. Cole tombstone
Flickr.com, December 19, 2006. Accessed April 22, 2010. He attended high school at B.M.C. Durfee High School in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

, where he graduated in 1908.Warren A. Cole: A Brief Biography (Part One)
Mike Raymond, Cross and Crescent, December 2006. Accessed April 20, 2010. While there, he was a member of Alpha Mu Chi, a fraternity that may have shaped his future views for a collegiate organization. After graduation, a year of work, and a few weeks as a student at Brown University, Cole entered the Boston University School of Law in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1909, where he became a member of the Gamma Eta Gamma law school fraternity. He started several fraternities that never caught on, including The Lodge, Tombs, and Lambda Pi. After Lambda Pi, he founded Lambda Chi Alpha, meaning "Loyal Collegiate Associates" before its name was changed in 1912. Cole was one of the three founders of Lambda Chi Alpha when it started on November 2, 1909. He graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree in 1912. He then set about the work of continuing to build an international fraternity.

Career

Cole held many different jobs during his lifetime such as store owner, jewelry salesman, an assistant at the Brown University Student Union, member of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, insurance salesman, and as a Pinkerton detective.

Personal life

Cole was married twice during his lifetime. He married his first wife on September 13, 1910, and they lived in

. They had three children, Irma Cole Pollard, Albert Warren Cole, and Nathan Waren Cole. He married Ethalyn Brayton Chace on August 28, 1919, in

Barrington, Rhode Island Barrington is a suburban, residential town in Bristol County, Rhode Island located approximately southeast of Providence. It was founded by Congregationalist separatists from Swansea, Massachusetts and incorporated in 1717. Barrington was ced ...

. Cole had three more children during his second marriage. His two sons, Albert and Nathan, never became

members. In addition to holding Lambda Chi Alpha’s highest office, he was the administrative and traveling secretary and the editor and treasurer of ''Purple, Green, and Gold'' magazine throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During his tenure in office, the fraternity grew to 53 functioning

chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

. Cole resigned his membership in Lambda Chi Alpha in 1920 under allegations of financial irregularities and the alteration of official fraternity documents by other members of the fraternity's governing body. However, in 1957, he was reinstated as a member in good standing. He was also a member of the

Loyal Order of Moose The Loyal Order of Moose is a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888 and headquartered in Mooseheart, Illinois. Moose International supports the operation of Mooseheart Child City & School, a community for children and teen ...

, grand chancellor of the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

Knights of Pythias, a better than 50-year member of the Pioneer

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

Somerset, Massachusetts Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,303 at the 2020 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel ...

,Warren A. Cole: A Brief Biography (Part 2)
Cross and Crescent, January 2007. and a member of the

National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and ...

. Cole died on December 29, 1968, in

. He was buried in a family plot at a cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts in January 1969. His first wife Lottie is buried with him.Boston Centennial Commemoration
Cross and Crescent, December 2009. Accessed April 20, 2010. A future historic marker is planned for Swansea, Massachusetts, to commemorate Cole.

References

External links

Warren A. Cole: A Brief Biography (Part One)

Warren A. Cole: A Brief Biography (Part Two)

Warren A. Cole gravesite collection
(photos) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Warren A. 1889 births 1968 deaths Boston University School of Law alumni Burials in Massachusetts College fraternity founders Lambda Chi Alpha People from Swansea, Massachusetts B.M.C. Durfee High School alumni

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links